Wednesday Whim - Abandoned Olympics

2004 Helliniko Olympic Softball Stadium, Athens, Greece, photos via Jamie McGregor Smith via It's Nice That 

Now that the 2012 Olympics are over...everyone has pretty much returned to their "regular" routine. No more long nights waiting for the Primetime events to air, no more waiting to see the Olympic medal count and no more records to break (for now). We've all moved on but have you ever wondered what happens to the venues after everyone leaves? 

I first spotted these images on Flavorwire and was stunned by what I saw. I have only thought about what happens to the venues for a second before I was distracted by other news. The most I thought was "I hope these places get used after so much money was spent on them." What used to represent so much athletic hopes and dreams have been reduced to practically nothing. The debilitated state of these past venues are depressing to see. Even the 2008 Beijing Olympic venues look feeble and that was only four years ago. 

I'm obviously intrigued by "abandoned spaces" (like my Wednesday Whim posts here and here) but these images take that thought to another level. What do you think?

2008 Beijing Beach Volleyball Venue, photos via David Gray via The Atlantic 

2008 Beijing Kayaking Venue 

1984 Olympic Ski Jump Venue, Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina via the cloudlessness 

1972 Olympic Stadium Train Station, Munich, Germany via Twin City Photos 

1932 Grand Olympic Auditorium, Los Angeles, CA via futurecapetown