It’s hard to believe that Rio hosted the Summer Olympics just six months ago.
Today, the Olympic Village has turned into a complete ghost town and many of the venues have fallen into disrepair.
At the Maracana Stadium, the power has been turned off because there is nobody to pay the energy bill. Water in one practice pool is orange. Turf has turned brown and, along with countless stadium seats, has been inexplicably removed from the field.
And that does not even begin to describe the situation in Rio’s favelas, which were supposed to be cleaned up ahead of the start of the Olympics this summer. Instead, as Gizmodo noted, there is sewage and feces flowing through the streets “in small rivers”.
Of course, none of this should come as much of a surprise. Time and again we have seen Olympic hosts promise that the billions of dollars spent for the two-week spectacle will have a lasting impact on the local economy and its citizens, only to then watch silently as the venues begin to decay and become abandoned.
Here’s what Rio’s Olympic venues looks like just six months later.
The Olympic golf course took three years to make and caused much ire because it was built in a national wildlife reserve. Now, it’s rundown and empty.
The Olympic Village, too, is a ghost town.
One practice pool has turned orange, and the structure next to it is quite literally falling apart.
A closer look at the eerie orange water.
And the nearby structure, where panels are falling off.
Inside the Aquatic Center, the pool is drained except for some unpleasant standing water.
A notice at the Deodoro Sports Complex, which reads: “We are in recess.”
An outside view of the Carioca Arenas, which hosted the basketball events, among others.
Quite symbolically, this set of Olympic rings is half-covered.
The famed Maracana Stadium has gone completely to waste.
The turf is browned and patches are missing.
Seats have been pried from the stands.
In one dugout, a trashcan is overturned and more seats are crumbling.
Wires hanging aimlessly in a broadcast booth from the Maracana.
Seats at the Maracana.
Another depressing scene from the Olympic Stadium.
The media center was recently demolished, and is now a health hazard.
A closer view of the trash left over from the demolition of the media center.
The beach volleyball venue gets sporadic use.
Thousands of favela residents were displaced during construction for the Olympics, and the favelas that were supposed to be improved ahead of time have only gotten worse.
Source: CBC
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