Abandoned, Expensive, or Imploded: The Wasteful World of Olympic Facilities

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[@AverytheCubanAmerican]

The Georgia Dome wasn't the main stadium of the 1996 Olympics. The Centennial Olympic Stadium was, which was later converted to a baseball stadium (a part of the original plan) called Turner Field where the Atlanta Braves played until 2016. It was then converted once again and remains in use as the Center Parc Stadium for the Georgia State Panthers football team Georgia Dome was only used for gymnastics, men's handball final, and basketball final during the games. Fittingly, the last Falcons game held at the Georgia Dome was a NFC Championship Game which sent the Falcons to the Super Bowl for their second appearance. While the dome was still a young stadium when it was demolished, man is the Mercedes-Benz Stadium gorgeous. What a beaut

[@Longhairedvato]

Yep. That’s a pretty big detail that he happened to miss.

[@RinrvUSA]

Also: the site of the infamous centennial park bombing.

[@ShaneMorris1986]

Came here to say this. They converted the Olympic Stadium into Turner Field. (Which was used for 20 years until the new stadium was built in Cobb County.) The athletic facilities were turned into Georgia Tech dorms. Atlanta actually did pretty well with its Olympic spending.

[@t.b.flowers8903]

@@ShaneMorris1986 and ATL wasn't saddled with crippling debt post Olympics. Thanks Billy Payne and Co.!

[@superorangecat6937]

We lovingly name MB Stadium "Megatron's Butthole." If you look just close enough, you can see why XD

[@johnchedsey1306]

I can't even watch the Olympics anymore. It all smacks of corruption, grifting, and waste. It is a genuine shame given that the athletes themselves are remarkable people doing incredible things.

[@charlesbaldo]

You must not be an American. Many of our Olympic athletes have become activist first and Athletes second. When that happens you start to make it divisive. It is showing in the ratings of people watching which is half of what it was 12 years ago.

[@michaeldowson6988]

@@charlesbaldo Well some of those remarkable athletes use drugs to compete, and who wants to waste time and money on watching that?

[@charlesbaldo]

@@michaeldowson6988 Just another corruption, i think this person that quit (not going to say her name) did it because she was doping. There is a history with her. Easier to quit and cry about mental health. That way she will get sympathizers from half the people. Again, i will not watch, but have to still put up with hearing the scandals and malcontents

[@RedXlV]

@@charlesbaldo I'm sure that if you're old enough to have seen it, you were also outraged by Tommie Smith and John Carlos at the 1968 Olympics.

[@charlesbaldo]

@@RedXlV First of all I want you to know I am black. I was 14 at the time in 68 and just starting to get interested in sports. It was also a summer that in my city (Rochester NY) we had serious race riots. Dr Martin Luther King had just been murdered 2 months earlier. A fist in the air seemed mild by comparison at the time, especially to a 14 year old that rioting happened a few blocks away from my home. Do you know John Carlos went on to work for the US Olympic Committee organizing 84 summer olympics in LA?

[@1practicaljoker]

In Montreal, we call the stadium the Big Owe, because the debt on it lasted forever.

[@bwalters7777777]

I live in Calgary. We hosted the 88 winter olympics - which is something people old enough to remember are rather proud of. It did help get us a nice new hockey arena that's still in use today and another nice speed skating venue at the university. Except for a few virtually abandoned ski jump facilities, we did fairly well. A few years ago we had a municipal referendum on whether to host another olympic event. To most people's relief, the idea was rejected.

[@ebba5980]

It would be interesting to see a video on the stadiums that were successful, like the stadium for the 1912 Olympics in stockholm that is still in use today.

[@sdot5389]

It’s a beautiful stadium too. I went for a run in Stockholm about 5 years ago.and just happened by it. I changed my route to go around it and some track coach just waved me in to take a few laps after he asked me if I was a tourist. Quite the memory.

[@danloeber]

Calgary in ‘88. Still using most sites

[@theaussiebackflipboy]

Sydney 2000 games involved massive construction of venues and an entire railway line. Everything still in use today. Even the Olympic Village was turned into housing. Apparently you can do the Olympics right if you do the math.

[@nrwiederhold]

lake placid :)

[@yongdeokcho2572]

Actually, a lot of Pyeongchang venues are intact. The main stadium was torn down, but the other venues were either there already and were just remodeled, or currently repurposed. The biggest investment was actually the express train that links Seoul to Pyeongchang and to the east coast, which made the county a popular winter resort for the Seoulites ... before the COVID, of course.

[@keithclingan6689]

The Georgia Dome was not the main venue in the 1996 Olympics. The opening and closing ceremonies as well as track and field events were held at the Olympic Stadium which was south of Downtown. After the Olympics the stadium became Turner Field, home of the Atlanta Braves of MLB. After the Braves moved to Cobb County Georgia State University bought it from Fulton County and it is now Georgia State Stadium (college football venue). During the Olympics the Dome was host to gymnastics and basketball.

[@wompa70]

Adding to this, the "Olympic Village" where the athletes stayed is still being used as dorm rooms for students at Georgia Tech. The pool facilities built for the Olympics are also still used by Georgia Tech. Looks like the only thing built specifically for the Olympics that was torn down was the tennis center in Stone Mountain. I think Atlanta (and Georgia) overall came out better than any other summer games host.

[@letsengrave155]

Exactly

[@rbailey1240]

I came here to say the same thing.

[@davidnicholson6680]

Yeah, the Atlanta games were probably the most fiscally responsible games of recent decades. Demolition of the Georgia Dome had nothing to do with the Olympics. It shouldn't be on this list.

[@knutthompson7879]

Yes. Both the Georgia Dome and the Olympic Stadium were pretty successful and well used over the course of their lives. Not really a cautionary tale. They kind of did it as right as it can be done.

[@nickthompson9697]

Glad someone is willing to speak up about how wasteful it is.

[@TheIVJackal]

They should have a few venues around the world that they rotate through! I think it's much more meaningful for the athletes that way too, e.g. "This is where Phelps won all his medals, what an honor to compete in the same pool".

[@jesusbarajas8067]

Nobody learns form Los Angeles they used already existing infrastructure and they actually made a profit

[@ryanwalters8702]

Denver was awarded it and then declined because of that fact

[@johnwolf2829]

@@ryanwalters8702 Smart of them, I hope all US cites follow that example.

[@penskepc2374]

What? This is not even a kind of unpopular opinion, its the mainstream belief.

[@Whitehorseandryder]

After the 2000 Sydney Olympics, the main stadium had it's end bleachers removed, reducing the capacity from 100,000 to 80,000, and now it still sells out a couple times a (non-covid) year, mainly for sporting events, and the occasional concert 👌🏼

[@boring7823]

Oh, that was a very good plan. They expanded it during the Olympics by adding a cheap overflow area.

[@jopa7696]

Vancouver had some positive benefits after the Olympics. They turned some of their venues into recreational building and I think they turned a building into a small museum. They also turned the Olympic village to a affordable housing unit. The new skyline tacks and roads made travel a lot more easier.

[@johncrane3858]

Salt Lake City used a local college stadium and did something similar. They increased then decreased capacity. Its still used and is usually packed every game

[@billcook6156]

As someone else mentioned, the Georgia Dome predated the Olympics by 5 years or so. And it wasn't actually the main stadium. Opening/closing ceremonies and athletics were hosted at Centennial Olympic Stadium, which was designed to be retrofitted into a state-of-the-art baseball stadium for the Atlanta Braves called Turner Field. The Braves left a few years ago for another ballpark in the suburbs, but the stadium is still in use as a football stadium for Georgia State University. And the other venues are still in use as well - the swimming/diving venue is still used by Georgia Tech, which also owns the former Olympic Village and uses it for student housing. I think Atlanta is a good example of doing things right (despite the logistical problems that plagued the games themselves).

[@donaldwert7137]

The financial success of the Olympics (such as it was), was the primary reason the IOC hated the Atlanta Olympics. Not beggaring onesself for the privilege of hosting the Olympics is in such poor taste!

[@susanzahn4922]

But Atlanta certainly would have known before then that they'd won the bid for the Olympics, so this might have had a multi-purpose in mind already.

[@DAWG1234321]

@@susanzahn4922 it was really years in the making and built b/c the NFL team was threatening to leave Atlanta. At the time, the Falcons were one a very few teams that still played out of a baseball stadium which had to be converted each weekend when the baseball and football seasons overlapped. The risk to injury was much higher since some of the field was baseball diamond dirt and the seating for fans was less than desirable for football.

[@TheTripperSmurf]

Meanwhile, all the facilities from the Sydney Olympics are still being used and most are making money. Melbourne's main stadium from 1956 is still the pride and joy of Melbourne's sporting hierarchy. All that is needed is some forward planning.

[@benburrowes8767]

Well said mate 👍🇦🇺

[@drdigsaus]

Proud aussie here aswell mate. But Sydney Olympic Park has never broken even. But a lose of 1.3 billion for the games is small in comparison to most other hosts Yes we still use it but its still has never been profitable

[@TheTripperSmurf]

@@drdigsaus true but making money and being profitable are two different things when it comes to government-run and owned facilities :)

[@Captaincinquo]

Last time I was down there, except for the odd footy match, Sydney Stadium's howling emptiness, gargantuan rusting statues to sporting greatness, broken and malfunctioning museum exhibits, and incomprehensible PA system tied to the railway station led me to christen it, and the area around it "Little Pyongyang".

[@JamesE88]

The NSW Government wanted to demolish Stadium Australia and rebuilt it along with Allianz Stadium, presumably to give large expensive projects to political donors and friends, goes to show that the issues of waste of public resources are pervasive everywhere.

[@caelestigladii]

Every olympic bid for the foreseeable future should include plans on how the infrastructure could be used in the future if it will be built for the olympics.

[@simplelifelost]

That’s a great idea. Or perhaps how it could be recycled somehow, a bit like PyeongChang. It’s a challenge for smarter people than me.

[@DavidGarcia-oi5nt]

You don't think that's already done?

[@TinyBearTim]

Then they will just not do the plans lol

[@laraAl737]

Already doing that! Paris is mostly using existing infrastructure and Los Angeles will only use existing infrastructure!

[@uppr]

There’s so many more interesting things about Olympic Stadium in Montreal - panels falling off the roof during a baseball game - the roof failing and permanently being closed, with the tiles being painted black to not allow sunlight to enter

[@a.a.p3254]

Why don’t the citizen of Montreal put it to a vote next election to demolish it. I believe it cost over $350 million yearly to keep that ugly thing up. Demolish it create new housing a mix of condos and affordable housing for the homeless. Cheers 🇨🇦

[@johanseinen8245]

It wouldn't surprise me that Tokyo will be added to this list too because of the lack of any tourist income.

[@willyorgy4677]

Seems like after Covid many of those venues could be used. After all Tokyo is the largest city on the planet and in a rich country.

[@onemorechris]

it’s kind of crazy to think that the new stadiums may never host an event with an audience

[@coweatsman]

Tokyo has not been lucky. The first games planned there for 1940 were cancelled because of the war. The 2nd games however were a success in 1964, becoming a launch pad for the Japanese economic miracle. The 3rd lot of games now being played out, a year too late, will be forgettable and regrettable.

[@SoapBox6]

@@willyorgy4677 this right here. A population that size will easily be able to fund, maintain, and utilize at least a decent portion of these facilities

[@JL-sm6cg]

@Insert Name Here funny enough the LA games, both of them, were the most profitable games in its history despite the ramifications surrounding each one (1932 in the middle of the Great Depression, and 1984 right after the Moscow games that we boycotted). There's a good chance the 2028 games will be as successful.

[@agrisea.original]

I really think Greece should take back the Olympic games and allocate a couple of areas for all games. The IOC could then select which host country would sponsor the Olympic area, giving Greece a percentage of the money collected to keep the areas maintained. After all, Greece did invent the Olympics.

[@onemorechris]

One plan i heard about on a business podcast was to give the olympics to 2-4 locations and rotate the event between them. This would mean the money required to maintain such massive structures would make a lot more sense. while this is a sensible idea, i don’t think it would ever happen

[@mrjack8849]

I agree with just rotating Olympics between a select few cities. Perhaps Athens, Los Angeles, London, Rio de Janeiro, Sydney, Johannesburg, and Tokyo for summer. Calgary, Turin, Nagano, Oslo among a couple others for winter.

[@cassandrafoxx4171]

That's the big advantage Brisbane has over other cities: we already have most of our facilities in place, with four stadiums already built and in use, other facilities for Swimming, Weightlifting, a Velodrome and lots of other places are ready to be converted for use for Olympic events. The Olympic village will be built on a site that was already slated for demolition and redevelopment, and plans are already in place for its use after 2032.

[@fosterfuchs]

On top of that, it's in a country with little corruption. So things are going to get done on time, with no special financial beneficiaries.

[@DavidJohnson-dp4vv]

So Brisbane is no different than Tokyo, Paris and LA then.

[@cassandrafoxx4171]

@@DavidJohnson-dp4vv Well, the big difference is that we've done this before, with the Commonwealth Games. While it's not the best example of a big event, it is so similar to the Olympics that, if we learn from the lessons of other cities that have done this (especially Sydney), we could pull this off to be one of the best Olympics ever. It's possible... And the best thing is that every Olympic site isn't going to go to waste afterwards. They're pretty much already being used, and for some, for decades. One of the major stadiums, the Gabba grounds, received a huge upgrade in the recent past, and is even getting a new train line and station being built right next to it, for easier access. So whatever we do, it's going to be better for Brisbane not just for the Olympics, but for the city for decades to come.

[@DavidJohnson-dp4vv]

@@cassandrafoxx4171 Listen Brisbane already has most of what's needed. Just like Tokyo, London, Paris and LA. Just look at their bids and see new venues and compare them to old venues. Also look at the past Olympics and see which cities had more venues that went unused aside from Athens most of them were in developing countries. Even if you were to Atlanta in 96 pretty much every venue has been repurposed. Brisbane is basically doing the same as the other developed cities because most of the infrastructure is already in place.

[@Alaster-]

Brisbane's in pretty good shape for venues. It will be public transport that needs the lift, like Sydney's. And like Sydney, they'll probably still run at a loss because not one modern Olympics that I've heard of has run at a profit. Sydney's promotion that it will bring money to NSW and Aus in general was bollocks. The 2003 RWC brought in a heap more profit, mainly cause it wasn't just in Sydney.

[@Shauma_llama]

There was quite a bit of resistance in LA to bringing the NFL back to Los Angeles as councilors and people complained about how we'd waste all the public money for the benefit of a billionaire NFL owner. People are learning that these stadiums and promises of big $ are just empty promises, but politicians keep pushing for them, payoffs no doubt.

[@deadmansgulf911]

Well of course politicians like these stadiums. It’s a good way to get kickbacks and launder their money

[@KeithZim]

The NFL is a bad comparison. LA is the only big city in the US where this is true. And its because LA has so many other things to do. However, in Kansas City NFL is HUGE EFFING MONEY.... The world does not revolve around LA, we tolerate your existence. Remember where the water comes from....

[@tophers3756]

@@KeithZim the St.Louis fanbase was loyal, even when the Rams sucked. Even so, Kroenke fucked over STL and the fans who pushed our the ass for season tickets. Kroenke and good hillbilly wife instead wanted to open a vast stadium near LA that he can rent out when the Rams or others aren't playing. He wasn't losing money at all, but he lied to STL for a year about moving while STL and fans poured money in. Fuck the NFL

[@0311Mushroom]

The Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum predates the Olympics by over a decade. And it was built for USC, who has been playing there now for 98 years. When the Rams moved there in 1946, it was already 23 years old. And when the games return in 2028, they will start and end in what will be by then a 105 year old stadium, hosting its third Olympiad. The issue with the NFL is something different. The biggest problem was that the Rams and Raiders both wanted newer and bigger stadiums, and LA told them to suck it up. So both teams left. They once again have 2 teams, now that that stupid prohibition of a new football stadium has been lifted.

[@keithmoore5306]

yeah politicians only see the upside never the downsides all they see is payoffs while building sweetheart deals for their buddies that will be vendors supplying the team the freebies they get for pushing it through bragging rights after and tax revenue that NEVER materialize they never see the cost because they don't pay them!! pro sports need to be abolished period!!

[@CarthagoMike]

Meanwhile the Amsterdam Olympic Stadion from 1928 is still in use to this day.

[@Saucyakld]

That's the Dutch for you, nothing wasted!

[@sirflaps7619]

Been there once that thing is massive

[@Elainerulesutube]

The stadium used for the Sydney 2000 Summer Olympic Games is still in use.

[@0311Mushroom]

So is the LA Memorial Coliseum. When the games return in 2028, it will be 105 years old.

[@CoachAndreaTyndall]

@@Elainerulesutube Also many of the facilities from the 56' (?) Olympics in Melbourne.

[@conors4430]

One of the things I’m happy about the Sydney Olympics is. We planned in some shape or form for what would come after the fact. So there were a lot of temporary Stans built into arenas that could be taken down leaving the stadium at a size actually feasible to use on a regular basis. The Olympic stadium at the time of the Olympics could hold about 115,000 people, but they removed to Stans and brought it down to 80,000 which gets filled all the time. They did the same with the aquatics centre. I also live near the regatta centre that was used for the kayaking and all that, it gets used all the time by athletes and families. Not sure if we ever broke even but I’m glad they didn’t go to waste. And it’s been 20 years

[@simonrancourt7834]

The Montréal velodrome (besides the stadium) has been converted to a particular zoo/natural science museum called the Biodôme. It houses 4 different ecosystems with plants and animals.

[@vanessanicolas8288]

I love the biodôme but they are constantly under renovations

[@simonrancourt7834]

@@vanessanicolas8288 They recently finished major renovations. It should be several years before they work on it again

[@mimi2boys]

I have great memories at the Montreal Olympic Stadium. I was there when they retracted the roof for the first time during a baseball game. I went there quite often for baseball. Going up the tower to get a view of Montreal is also an impressive site. And more recently I got to sleep in it during a school activity with my son. But it is a white elephant and there was an insane amount of money spent on it. The whole Olympic concept needs to be rethought.

[@SupremeLeaderKimJong-un]

"No A-list K-pop would have Pyeongchang on their tour" funny you say that, because the first event held at the Olympic Stadium WAS a K-pop concert to commemorate 100 Days until the Winter Olympics. So the stadium actually hosted five events, not four also, the ski jump stadium you showed at 2:37 is still in use, wasn't demolished

[@stumarston6812]

STOP BRUTALIZING YOUR PEOPLE

[@orangeradishneo]

I don't think pre Olympic events really count in the context of multiple uses, considering it was built for that event. If the first event held there was FOR the Olympics, before they even opened - that doesn't attest to the building being used for multiple non Olympic related events.

[@craigrohn9938]

The materials from the Pyeongchang stadium were used in building a baseball stadium in another Korean city -as was intended from the start.

[@djobert2402]

I'd love to see a video about Expo67. Could be a Megaproject, since islands needed to be built in the St-Lawrence river

[@sandybarnes887]

I'd like to see The Saint Lawrence Seaway as a megaproject

[@martinmaynard141]

Expo '92 in Sevilla would be good too. The Olympic Stadium has been used as a vaccination centre this year but lots of the rest is a ghost town,

[@johnendersby1619]

My favourite Expo 67 story is how they dumped tones of DDT into the St Lawrence River in order to kill the mosquitoes. I hear it was a good party.

[@martijnspruit]

@@martinmaynard141 Expo '92 is nowadays a perfect location for a post-apocalyptic Sci-Fi movie.

[@coastaku1954]

You should talk about Lake Placid 1980, an Olympic Games set in the middle of nowhere that is now a key training ground for US and Canadian athletes, same with Calgary 1988, the Olympic Oval they constructed there is the holy grail of Canadian Long Track Speed Skating. Also with Montreal's Olympic Stadium, the Montreal Tower that supports the roof was renovated and is now an Office Building for Desjardins and hosts a small museum and observation deck

[@missmusica82]

Also the fact that we here in LP had both the 1932& 1980 Winter games!

[@coastaku1954]

@@missmusica82 Exactly! Not many cities can hold that title, let alone tiny towns in Upstate New York

[@alisa9040]

I think Park City, Utah's Olympic facilities would be an exception to this.

[@tofertallman2512]

Lake Placid as well

[@DavidJohnson-dp4vv]

And so would the centennial Olympic stadium in Atlanta

[@DiscoDashco]

Even as a Cubs fan, I miss the Montreal Expos. They were 1st in the entire league in 1994, and were poised to win it all in the World Series that year before the lockout. I’m sure that most of the Québécois who live there didn’t really care enough whether they had a team or not, but to many others around the world having an internationally recognized, professional baseball team brought a lot of prestige and visibility to such a great world class city that Montreal is.

[@GIFD]

I used to watch when I was a teen and yes, that year they would have won. Just look at the lineup they had! The following year they couldn't afford to pay all the star players that were suddenly discovered so they traded most of them.

[@OmegaDez]

We deeply miss the Expos.

[@thedrunkenwobblies1331]

Olympic Stadium in Montreal is still used as office space. The tower has some of the most sought after office space in the city. The cost of the stadium also included the attached olympic pool and subway facilities, both of which are in heavy use to this day. Montreal is still getting a lot of use out of it. And the venue also held large trade shows almost weekly before covid.

[@Epiidevvy]

What I'm learning here is that hosting the Olympics is akin to winning the lottery. Sounds good but brings absolute ruin

[@seansopata5121]

In my opinion, a central location should be selected, maybe greece? Switzerland for winter. And every country that participates helps pay for the upkeep.

[@the-thhorseman2484]

A small rotation of permanent sites would be good too. Los Angeles, Paris, then somewhere in Asia for summer for example.

[@seansopata5121]

I disagree. A single, centralized, location. There doesn't need to be some sort of weird rotation of areas. Just one place that everyone chips in on. Start having a rotation and you're in the same boat again. It's unnecessary.

[@wolfoffroad]

Yeah, just host it in Sydney each time. :)

[@the_rachel_sam]

And you’ll see the comments as to why that doesn’t happen haha everyone wants to host it

[@shauneseh720]

@@seansopata5121 That would be great if you are European? There’s many reasons why I don’t think this could work. Home turf is usually an advantage for athletes. Whether it’s having their fans cheer them or the actual environmental conditions. Likewise, some athletes are driven by being able to compete internationally and travel the world. If you want global viewership, it can’t always be in the same time zone. Different locations makes it more accessible to fans around the globe (I.e I’m sure there’s lots of people in Asia watching the current olympics but I don’t know a single person where I am who is because it’s only on in the middle of the night and it’s not fun to watch after the fact when info about records and winners is already everywhere). It’s fine but I can’t wait to be able to watch live again after a series of big events being in Asia. Some places use the olympics to boost tourism and share culture. Having it in one spot would certainly eliminate this. Look at how much goes into the opening ceremony. This is part of the long-game that could possibly benefit host countries, but we only get videos about the crumbling stadiums and cost of the Olympics vs what it made, it factoring in long-term gains. Watch Simon’s video on the Beijing olympics for a great example. Centralizing is fine, but then there needs to be a central location on each continent to keep the globe engaged. The reality is that World Champion ships and other major competitions happen all around the world just fine, it’s the demands of the IOC, poor planning/construction , greed and fiscal irresponsibility which leads to this.

[@AverytheCubanAmerican]

Sarajevo venues: exist Guerillas: (slaps roof of venues) this bad boy can fit so much war in it

[@rodchallis8031]

I remember the lead up to the '76 Olympics in Montreal. As questions about costs started, then Mayor of Montreal Jean Drapeau said "The Olympics can no more have a deficit than I can have a baby." As time went on and outrageous cost over runs mounted, Editorial Cartoonists kept drawing Drapeau as if he was 9 months pregnant. I could go on about the relationship between Organized Crime and Civil Projects in Quebec, but as they say in many parts of New York City, " I didn't see nuthin'."

[@djeieakekseki2058]

What's this situation about Canada and mafia?

[@rodchallis8031]

@@djeieakekseki2058 Like anywhere else, organized crime exists, and it was natural that in the early days what we popularly term "The Mafia" branched out to Montreal and I *think* Hamilton Ontario more than say Toronto, not far away. One just doesn't expect it in Canada, for some reason, although hit men here always say sorry after shooting.

[@Newtonian_Balls]

A successful venue video would be great as well. Salt Lake City 2002 Winter Olympics were highly successful and all of the venues almost 20 years later are still maintained and used. The Olympic stadium wasn’t built for the games as it was the University of Utah’s stadium and at the time it would only hold 35,000-40,000 people.

[@ignitionfrn2223]

1:15 - Chapter 1 - Pyeongchang (2018) 3:35 - Chapter 2 - Rio (2016) 5:35 - Chapter 3 - Sochi (2014) 8:10 - Chapter 4 - Atlanta (1996) 10:00 - Chapter 5 - Sarajevo (1984) 11:35 - Chapter 6 - Montreal (1976)

[@chucklebutty9663]

You should do a video about the other arenas in Brasil. Swimming..... Derelict. Velodrome...... Derelict. Everything in deodoro..... Yep. You guessed it. Derelict. Never mind the apartments they built for it all........

[@rtleitao78]

Yup, barely scratched the surface there. Maracanã was the least of the problems, even though it was absurd. The whole Olympic Park where they tore down the old racetrack was a scheme to get some new real state development land for free. Ilha Pura, the luxury condo that hosted the athletes is still selling luxury apartments and Carvalho Hosken got that for free. The whole thing was absurd.

[@sheeple04]

@@rtleitao78 What's even worse about the old racetrack (Jacarepaguá) is that a decade later, they decided "shit, we need a racetrack back!" And they wanted to cut down a nature reserve for a new high end racetrack (which was then cancelled since everyone got angry). While if they didn't build the stadiums for the Olympics and Pan American Games there, they could've still had one and modernised it...

[@PiLLbOt100]

If you were wondering, a swimming arena is called a natatorium.

[@Malfoy1594]

The swimming pool was a temporary build which was to be torn down after the games... It only looked derelict because they didn't demolish it for a full year.

[@TheJustina102085]

Yes. I was surprised he didn’t touch on the forced displacement of people as well in countries like China

[@markseib4173]

I think Montreal was called the "the Big Owe"...

[@RinrvUSA]

Exactly.. The nickname had nothing to do with the design.

[@a.a.p3254]

I believe it cost the tax payers $350 million just to keep it up every year. The local government can never find enough money for it’s horrible streets pot hole hell and the homeless. Cheers🇨🇦

[@karensimpson609]

This may have been pointed out already but just wanted to add a small correction regarding the Montreal Olympics. The stadium was not called "the big O because of its doughnut shape". It was actually called the "Big Owe" because of all the cost overruns. In fact, to help pay for the stadium and all other venues and infrastructure, Canada's first national lottery was created to help cover the costs of the Olympics, it was called "Super Lotto". This lotto has since been replaced by other national and Provincial lotteries.

[@kmashbaker]

Salt Lake 2002 Winter Olympic venues have been turned into public facilities and they put aside money in a fund to maintain them. We would love to host again and have most facilities already in place!

[@williamharris8367]

The Saddledome in Calgary (Alberta, Canada) was built for the 1988 Winter Olympics and it is still in regular use. Indeed, other than the ski jump, all of the facilities are still being used -- though some (e.g. the bobsled track) are starting to reach their end-of-life.

[@craigmoy5457]

Given most modern stadium have a life expectancy of around 25 years I would argue the Olympic venues on mass have been incredibly successful in bucking that trend. Stockholm is still in use a century later, here in Australia the MCG is still one of the world great stadiums 60 years later and the Sydney stadium has also well and truly paid back use and remains our major sports stadium. Wembly in London is a winner and LA is backing up for a 3rd go in nearly 100 years of service, Mexico city, the birds nest and Munich are still in use, as is the Rome stadium. The waste does come in specialty events like white water parks even in reuse they are luxuries that the olympics requires and get inconsistent use therafter.

[@ManuTheGreat79]

I think the only good example is London 2012. West Ham now plays in the big stadium, the housing for the athletes is now housing residents, the olympic site is now a new big park... and all of this was built on an old industrial area that needed to be sanitised and repurposed anyway. That's how you do it right.

[@wolfecanada6726]

Vancouver 2010

[@ManuTheGreat79]

@@wolfecanada6726 I should look into that one.

[@robvegas9354]

Here in Melbourne we have the MCG built in the 1850's used for footy, an olympics in 1956, commonwealth games in the early 2000's. Still get used all year round for Aussie rules footy and cricket, concerts. etc to this day. That could be a new mega/side project for the show :)

[@youareawesome5236]

I reckon our Olympic capacity n how all our ex Olympic or Commonwealth games projects are still being used is an entire episode. Especially after these Tokyo games n our dominance. Allow the Pohms an insight into how we kick there arse n other countries arses, with a tiny population.

[@greasemonkey5637]

Sydney stadium and dome are still in regular use also

[@Mikowmer]

And most of the venues that will be used for the 2032 Olympics in Brisbane are already built and in use.

[@robvegas9354]

@@Mikowmer they are good to go!

[@NatoBro]

The Expos were not new when they moved into the Big O. They had been playing since 1968

[@mrwednesdaynight]

They played at Jarry Park before that.

[@wolfecanada6726]

Vancouver ended up ahead, and actually made a profit. All venues still in use.

[@johnchedsey1306]

Plus modernizing the Sea To Sky Highway up to Whistler was a huge benefit. That road was a little terrifying at times before, but so much more improved afterwards.

[@wirery403]

Same with calgary lol

[@pyrrhogaster]

Same with Salt Lake City

[@philw.hudson9401]

Same with Atlanta. If you ever drive through downtown and see the Georgia Tech dorms from the interstate, you're looking at part of Olympic Village.

[@Ghostvertigo]

The issue with all the abandoned ones is they didn't have the foresight to see past the Olympics and what they could become

[@Rocketsong]

I have said for years. Return the games permanently to Athens at a permanent site. Maintaining a fixed location is far better than building mega-stadia that get used for a week then fall into ruin.

[@kaylee4394]

Excellent idea

[@uzoma112]

What if Athens got flooded or some massive rioting or severe natural disaster?

[@sepez]

I agree. I've also been saying that for ages but unfortunately I am not an IOC official so my opinion means nothing.

[@sepez]

@@uzoma112 What if what if what if...

[@JWB671]

The Greeks would butcher that for sure...

[@Phase52012]

Could we just have 3 permanent Olympic sites located in a different time zone around the world; each time zone 8 hours apart. That would keep the TV people happy as they could broadcast 24hrs a day.

[@scrawnyclownsnatch9656]

That could work, but the problem about maintaining the sites crops up again. With three sites, by the time a country would need to host it again, 12 years would have passed. So not only is that 12 years without Olympic tourist revenue to pay for the facilities, but it's long enough that they would only get two or three Olympics in before renovations would be needed. A better solution would be one location that can host the summer games and another for the winter games and in locations that the host country would use them year-round. But the politics of giving one country the right to host them indefinitely (or for a sizable period of time) would be....difficult at best. The most likely solution is for host countries to A) Cut costs majorly so they don't overspend what they will likely get back in tourist revenue etc... B) Construct the facilities in a way that will allow them to be used in the future (London is a great example of this working out great). C) Have the Olympics loosen their requirements for the facilities so they can be cheaper, have fewer people in them, etc...

[@mason9483]

I would like the Olympics to be in Athens only.

[@cmarkn]

What cities are suitable for both summer and winter games?

[@carsonswick4767]

@@cmarkn Beijing is the first to hold both (Summer in 2008 and Winter in 2022). I’d say that somewhere in the Rocky Mountains (Calgary/Denver/SLC) could work for both summer and winter as well. Idk about a third city… maybe somewhere in the Alps because it would fit in between the other 2 time zones?

[@michaelgallagher3640]

Because of $$$

[@ande100]

ALL locations including the the Olympic village from the Summer 1972 Olympics in Munich are 100% used. I watched Micheal Jackson 2x, Tina Turner, David Bowie, Prince, Genesis, Cher, and so many more. The cubicals in the village became students pref housing and quite a hip hub. I'd love to make a docu series about it one day

[@Tyler-gv6zf]

You saw MJ live not once but twice? Wow... Consider me envious!

[@ande100]

@@Tyler-gv6zf 1st: Thriller Tour. 2nd: Bad Tour. Amazing on core : Man in the Mirror with choir and all crew children n. A line of lights straight down went out from the outside towards center stage like a closing curtain. Last went out with the last note. Last spotlight on Micheal went off! 1 loud lightning struck near the Olympia-Stadium and a hot summer rain came like that! No warning! Epic!

[@kixigvak]

The velodrome was demolished in 2015.

[@ande100]

@@kixigvak Oh bummer. at least the buildings lasted. I left in 1998; I didnt know it was torn down

[@funnyunkle]

i'm a huge olympics fan and. over the last few it s been hard to keep my enthusiasm. I was part of the 2010 Winter Games and volunteered in a few other before and after that. These videos are sooo amazing a great as they bring back the fond memories for working the games and the remind me of the cost it took for the games in Vancouver. Every major milestone date the city reignites the olympic cauldron at a hug cost but it is usually paid for by a legacy fund and private donors. Just before the Pandemic lockdown We relit it for the 10th anniversary and it was a blast to see some of team back together again for it.

[@paulmoffat9306]

Sochi was so expensive, because Putin used that 'celebration' as an Trojan Horse to station a huge military force there for 'security' reasons that became clear when he invaded Ukraine and captured the Crimea peninsula. The Olympics had barely ended (Feb 23) when a war a was decreed (Mar 01).

[@trappenweisseguy27]

You can bet a large number of rubles also went into his pocket.

[@67lilbear]

The Olympic Village for the 1980 winter games in Lake Placid was designed for and is currently a Federal Prison...👍

[@jaketuchel3543]

Now living 1km away from the Sydney stadium and seeing it normally in constant use seems like we got the recipe right

[@avalanche1990]

Same with the Vancouver Olympic oval. Got transformed into a multi use facility. Same with a few other venues costly as hell to build all of them in Metro Vancouver and Whistler but they are used thank god

[@stevemickler452]

We did pretty well here in Atlanta too with almost all the major facilities still in use.

[@Lazarus1940]

Another wonderful leftover of the 96 Olympics is the area in and around ATL was contaminated by non-indigenous plants, leading to a massive pollen count in spring. I've personally seen pollen blowing off the trees in literal clouds, lowering air quality and causing plenty of respiratory issues.

[@trappenweisseguy27]

Fun fact about Montreal’s Olympic stadium fabric roof is that they spent over a million dollars a year for decades just to store the thing in France. Why it was never brought over and stored in Canada would be an interesting story. Those Olympic’s were 700% over budget 😳.

[@CatsMeowPaw]

Tokyo scrapped plans to build a new billion dollar arena, but the games will be a financial disaster. There is zero tourism, almost no tickets sold, and major sponsors pulled out.

[@Elainerulesutube]

China is to blame for this.

[@UtamagUta]

@@Elainerulesutube in roundabout ways, yes. Ms. Corona indeed came from there O.o

[@RedXlV]

@@Elainerulesutube The IOC is to blame. The 2020 Olympics should've been delayed another year at least, if not cancelled entirely in favor of giving Tokyo the 2024 games (and thus pushing back Paris to 2028, Los Angeles to 2032, and Brisbane to 2036).

[@kristinepfs]

@@Elainerulesutube Yes .... and, China will go all out and put on a "splash" next year and flaunt it in Japan's face ....

[@bastardogrosso4311]

@@kristinepfs ... I hope there will be a major outbreak in China .... really don't want the Winter Olympic Games 2022 to be a successful one at all ... TOTALLY UNFAIR !!!

[@airplanemxde3057]

Do a video on the wastefulness of the 19th and early 20th century world fairs

[@maryseflore7028]

On an interesting note: the Montreal Stadium, the Big O, has a very unsavery set of nicknames in French (the other Canadian official language): the Pedal Bin, or the Toilet - mostly because of its shape and the (sometimes) retractable roof. It was paid for in large part with taxes on cigarettes, too. It's an all around unhealthy elephant, it looks cool but that's it.

[@a.a.p3254]

Demolish it ! It’s cost over $350 million yearly to keep that dump going. Build affordable housing it should be a election issue.

[@erikjohnsen2411]

Hey just to mention WORMS DO NOT RUIN SOIL. Carry on, many times they actually enrich the soil.

[@unco12345678910]

I also found that impossible to understand when he said that....

[@gm2407]

Probably synthetic pitch mixed with real grass. Could worms have ruined the synthetic part of the pitch? Or maybe they were giant worms producing the Spice Mellonge. 🤣

[@notapplicable531]

In order to enrich the soil, earthworms have to eat something. In this case, namely the roots of the grass. If you have enough worms, there isn't enough root material to sustain them. They starve to death. With no roots, the grass also dies. That may be the case. Another factor, is that there are a nunber of species in the family Glossoscolecidae native to South America that are huge. Given their size, it would not take them long to eat all the plant material available to them.

[@rong1924]

He didn’t say earthworms. Could have been cut worms which can ruin turf.

[@user-oq4yk1xd7d]

Preach

[@Patricia-zq5ug]

Montreal's mayor: "The Olympics can no more have a deficit than a man can have a baby!" HA!

[@ilanamillion8942]

Aislin did a great cartoon on that one.

[@jamesdodson4659]

Men have babies all the time in 2021. Women have become obsolete.

[@marypatten9655]

@@jamesdodson4659 Oh. And just where are you getting your eggs from to find fertilizer?

[@jamesdodson4659]

@@marypatten9655 Some men have xx chromosomes and some have xy. I heard it on the news from those "follow the science" folks who have also been saying global warming is going to destroy us in 12 years and that we should wear between 0-3 masks depending on what they say at the time. They can't be wrong. Right?

[@eriknovak5452]

@@jamesdodson4659 go pound sand

[@vr6swp]

A huge problem with the Georgia Dome was the parking lot was big enough for about 5 or 6 cars. ACOG planned it around MARTA (ATL mass transit) which locals don't use because people typically don't want to get mugged or murdered

[@shipofthesun]

I did a lot of A/V work in the Congress Center/Omni, and yes indeed, parking was miserable.

[@cqholt]

MARTA is one of the safest transit systems in North America. I spotted an OTPer.

[@vr6swp]

@@cqholt Millennials have spoken the "Atlanta is safe" myth into existence. In the 80's thru early 2000's high crime rates were a fact, the only people who denied it were Maynard Jackson, Andrew Young, Bill Campbell, and their various chief of police hand puppets. With the 2000's gentrification of midtown it may be safe, or safer than it was at least. In the 90's radio station DJ's used to joke about how good Grady Hospital was at treating gunshot victims.

[@spddracer]

I was at the games in 1996. The torch ran within 1/4 mile of my house. One of the best summers ever. :-)

[@JeweLinHisHans]

My favorite olympics. The magnificent seven of women’s gymnastics and first team gold ever.

[@XSpImmaLion]

Just so people understand: the editors for this video pretty much picked the best stadium case scenario for Rio olympics, and it still landed here. Maracanã Stadium has always been an extremely popular, if not the most popular stadium in Brazil, decades before the recent Olympics and World Cup, and it'll continue being that way. This is why the story ended relatively well for it. So you can imagine what happened to all the rest of the Olympics and World Cup structures. I'll also just add that both events went way overbudget, delivered late, and did just the bare minimum abandoning all promisses of infrastructure that would benefit local population prioritizing useless crap that would only be used during the events. Also, both events generated mountains of corruption investigations that went nowhere, because of course they didn't.

[@jeroenverschaeve3090]

A corruption investigation going nowhere is painfully ironic

[@dyveira]

Ended well, maybe, but wouldn't you rather they hadn't spent all that money to begin with?

[@PhilLesh69]

Allow me to go in the back and discuss this with my manager. I'm back. He said nope. I really fought for you. Sorry.

[@ghislaincote4882]

Montreal : Not just the roof... The TOWER wasn't there for the games in 76... Like saying to the world : we have great ideas but can't finish on time...

[@cornelisjohn]

I remember the the big O is now called the Big Owe, lol!

[@aldosigmann419]

Oh man do i remember those games - what a humiliation for us Canadians. The construction corruption was the only 'gold' medal there....we got one silver and 2 bronze otherwise.

[@bastardogrosso4311]

@@aldosigmann419 ... actually Canada won 5 silver and 6 bronze medals in 1976 ... but still a joke for the canucks because most host nations did very well in the medal tally ... including us ... Australia had a record number of medals (58 including 16 gold medals) in the 2000 Sydney Olympic Games ... very proud.

[@aldosigmann419]

@@bastardogrosso4311 It’s been almost half a century son but your command of the trivial is commendable - it must lend your feeble existence some degree of meaning I suppose. As others have stated the Olympics are but a corrupt joke these days - sad that Australia falls within this time frame. Proud? Australia is but a 5 star hotel now for the worlds 1% with a servile work force to collect the soiled laundry. Aussies are being marched off the stage of history but it’s worth all the little pats on the back they give you - right?

[@bastardogrosso4311]

@@aldosigmann419 ... trivial??? It sounds more like details to me ... some people are simply not accustomed to details of course I was 16yo when the Olympic Games was held in Montreal. In August 1979 I visited the 1972 Olympic Village in Munich, West Germany. In September 1979 I went to Canada to do my university study and stayed there for a few years. I went to visit the 1976 Olympic Village in Montreal while I was in Canada. So I am quite familiar and feel comfortable with your country, mate. Since I had the opportunity to see both the 1972 and 1976 Olympic Villages ... I have to say I prefer the former except for its dark past because of the Black September terrorist incident. Historically Australia has always been a sporting nation and does perform well in the Summer Olympic Games unlike its big brother Canada. Even our little brother New Zealand is doing better than Canada in Tokyo now. This is true dad! LOL :-)

[@diskob0]

Munichs Olympic stadia are still in good shape, even the Olympic village is still in use by students

[@fosterfuchs]

Hence no mention of Munich in this video. Simon also didn't mention London 2012. I know they were planning for post-Olympic use ahead of time.

[@Furudal]

The 1936 Berlin stadium is still there and still hosts football matches

[@ajstevens1652]

Surprised the Allies didn't tear that one down.

[@cfriedel123]

The funniest part of Sochi is watching F1 cars drive around it and seeing all the abandoned stuff.

[@MSportsEngineering]

It's amazing, all these facilities and you make a piece of crap (race track) like this!

[@jannadrielcervo7753]

Probably the only remaining use of the former Sochi Olympics venue, as an F1 circuit.

[@misterhiuo000]

Unfortunately the track is one of the worst (if not the worst) of the F1 calendar...

[@dyveira]

It took Montreal over 40 years to pay off the Olympic debt.

[@theburden9920]

That is bad, japan has a 250% debt to gdp ratio

[@cassiecraft8856]

Ironically I was really wondering about this very subject. I DO find it a very huge waste of money to build these Olympic stadiums, and then.......what else can they do? Good subject Simon!

[@coweatsman]

China has even built a high speed rail to connect Beijing with Zhangjiakou venues but at least it will be used afterwards as part of China's high speed rail network.

[@cammysan]

So much doom and gloom from these venues left to rot. I'd love to see a video on the positive outcomes for Olympic venues. I know majority, if not all, the venues for the 1956 Olympics are still in use today.

[@Kevin-go2dw]

Many of the sites still exist. MCG present before the games, and still in use (Covid permitting). Royal exhibition buildings - the same. StKilda town hall - the same. While the Olympic pool is no longer a pool, the building still exists and the area is still a sports precinct. The velodrome is long gone, but some of the training venues still exist. Even the athletes village, even if modified is still around.

[@raediaufar5003]

Beijing 2008 Olympic stadiums are mostly still in use. The swimming pool becomes waterpark, the stadium held some concerts and football matches and the olympic park itself becomes a major tourist attraction

[@daynewilding9649]

The Georgia dome hosted some of the best episodes of WCW Nitro.

[@thekydragon]

It also hosted a WrestleMania. Granted it was one of the worst WrestleMania's, but The Rock was part of it and that counts for something.

[@naohanadalivre]

Goldberg won is first WCW HC against Hollywood Hulk Hogan on the dome.

[@daynewilding9649]

@@naohanadalivre what a great night for WCW. Shame the dome ain't there no mo.

[@iamdavejohnson]

In your mentioning of Atlanta, you could have also mentioned that the Olympic Stadium, which was used for all track and field, along with the opening and closing ceremonies, was immediately renovated after the games to become Turner Field, home of the Braves, then renovated again after the Braves moved north of the city and is now used by Georgia State College’s football team. Tons of seats have been removed from the grandeur of what it was.

[@golfgrabu]

I'm a Montrealer and, as such, I can say that Simon did his homework perfectly when it comes to the 1976 olympic monetary fiasco and he sum it up very well. But, due to a lack of time, he didn't mention the Olympic Village ( where the athletes were staying) was turned into a huge housing complex.

[@ghislaincote4882]

Right. The velodrome also turned into a zoo, with other great museums and gardens in the vicinity.

[@golfgrabu]

@@ghislaincote4882 Mais le stade a coûté cher!!!!

[@suedenim]

I suspect the Sochi story would have a lot more interesting details on Simon's other channel... and many more "allegedlys".

[@letsengrave155]

You forgot to mention how much use the other Olympic stadium got in atlanta, Turner field.

[@catramax]

PLEASE DO A VIDEO ON THE BATTLE OF SARAJEVO. I loved your overview of it I was so fascinated with that war, I knew so little about it and I can’t find good quality videos on it. Please please please make one I will share it everyone and tell all my friends to watch it

[@janicechau5482]

The Olympics worked well for Vancouver. I think all the venues and infrastructure are still in regular use by the community.

[@lvbfan]

You kinda swung and missed on the Atlanta part. The Georgia Dome - always intended to be the home of the Falcons - was in development in the late 1980s, before the Olympics were awarded to Atlanta. In fact, groundbreaking was November 22, 1989, ten months before Atlanta won the games. As mentioned, it was sold as a new home for the Falcons, but also for Super Bowls, NCAA basketball tournaments, the Peach Bowl (college football) and large concerts. It would have been built whether Atlanta got the Olympics or not. The building you SHOULD have talked about was Centennial Olympic Stadium. The opening and closing ceremonies and most track & field events were held there. The oval stadium was designed so that one end could be removed after the games and the venue turned into a baseball stadium, Turner Field. The Braves played there for almost 20 years (1997-2016) before moving to a new suburban stadium. Georgia State University bought Turner Field and is in the process of converting it to a football stadium (the conversion was designed to be completed in stages, as GSU's new-ish football team doesn't have the revenue (or need) for a 50,000 seat stadium with 75 foot long HDTV monitors... yet. But the Atlanta Olympics was sold in part, by being inexpensive for Georgians. Most of the bigger venues were already there: the Georgia Dome was a venue, as was The Omni Coliseum next door, built in the early 70s for the Hawks (NBA) and Flames (NHL); it was demolished after the games due to corrosion issues with its COR-TEN steel outer shell (the same stuff used on Barclays Center in Brooklyn). Next door to both the Georgia Dome and The Omni is the Georgia World Congress Center, one of the largest convention halls in the US; half of that was used for indoor events like gymnastics and fencing, the other half was the international press center. The Braves then-home, Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium, was also used, as were Bobby Dodd Stadium and Alexander Memorial Coliseum (now McCamish Pavilion) at Georgia Tech, several smaller venues at Atlanta's historically black colleges, the Atlanta Civic Center, etc. Almost all of this falls into a 3-5 mile radius. And things that needed to be built were built with an eye for reuse. The Olympic Village was given to Georgia State as their first official dormitory; they later sold the building to Georgia Tech, who uses it for the same purpose. Tech also got to keep the aquatic center, which is now the McAuley Aquatic Center, generally considered a world-class swimming venue today. There were some failures. The tennis center, located at Stone Mountain, never really found a use post-games, despite several attempts by (big-name) stars and companies to make something of it. And one of the HBCUs had severe financial issues and had to end their sports program, leading the venue to fall into actual ruin.

[@BrainsofFrank]

Oh my goodness thank you for making this video!! This entire video proves what I’ve been saying for years!!! I live in Vancouver Canada 🇨🇦. 2010 Winter Olympics were here. They actually had to truck in a lot! Of snow from over 250 kms away because we didn’t get enough snow that year. A wonderful waste of money

[@annehersey9895]

So sad about Sarajevo! What a beautiful Olympics. It was absolutely a joy to watch those.

[@oioioioioioioioioioioo]

literally just watched the world cup 2014 video and thought to myself, i wonder if they ever talk about the Olympics stadiums, and well, perfect timing l3

[@Mythrose]

The IOC should require that cities have plans for these things afterwards and those plans should be high priority. Like a city with a large homeless population could design buildings that serve as sports venues for the olympics and then when they’re done they can be converted into low income/free housing subsidized by the billions of dollars these places apparently have to spend on these disposable structures. Like, the need for whatever the buildings will be after the games should be highest priority, it could turn the Olympics from something that destroys cities into something that helps them.

[@martijnspruit]

The IOC doesn't care at all for environment, the future, or sustainabilty. The only thing the IOC cares for , is money. And by the way, they don't care for sports either.

[@Mythrose]

@@martijnspruit obviously…but maybe the cities that get devastated by these places could force them to

[@isabellebergevin]

I work in a large college, a short walk away from the Olympic Stadium in Montreal and we have great views of it from most of our East facing windows. It may be a huge, expensive behemoth of a structure but to me, it's beautiful. I hope that they'll never tear it down!

[@dolamrothknight]

they said same thing about the soccer stadium in brazil........... what a waste of $

[@stephanieden4]

The awesome zombies-in-love movie “Warm Bodies” was filmed in Montreal and some scenes include the abandoned Olympic stadium.

[@crazyhorse3854]

That was an awesome video. Very interesting topic.

[@holly6517]

I drove past the Seoul stadiums today and my bf tried to tell me that it wasn’t ever an Olympic stadium….. despite the gigantic Olympic Rings being right there…… and the road names…….

[@sc1338]

Was he embarrassed of it? Lol

[@dr.ryttmastarecctm6595]

I am surprised that you didn’t mention that, in the recent past, the IOC decided to only accept hosting applications from cities with pre-existing Olympic venues. While I remember this news article, I haven't found the source. It may have been buried.

[@sheevone4359]

I also heard of that rule. I think the problem is that the rule is only partially being followed. Countries that have some infrastructure are being chosen and the fact that a lot more will be added just for the Olympics is being ignored.

[@nlpnt]

@@sheevone4359 It depends what the infrastructure *is*. LA is planning almost all of their new spending to be on an Olympic Village which'll become much-needed housing after the Games and on finally linking LAX to the Metro system,

[@michaeldowson6988]

@@nlpnt This has been something of the case in Vancouver for the 2010 Winter Games. A mix of existing and purpose built structures for the games, and the Olympic Village is now housing; some of it subsidized. Unused former industrial land got put to good use.

[@sheevone4359]

Certainly a good thing, if it goes as planned

[@snickle1980]

I remember hearing or reading about this as well. Dont recall when...But i've seen this topic come up within similar channels. Perhaps it was "Fact Fiend" or perhaps it was another bald and bearded man who told me the story long ago. "No one knows who they were or what they were doing...But their legacy remains..."

[@larryowsowitz2274]

I flew into the small airport at Lake Placid, New York last week. The only infrastructure that is still in use are great ski jumps and the bobsled track. The tower that held the Olympic flame is barely visible between a gap in a small line of trees right nest to the airport.

[@missmusica82]

So that’s not entirely true. Whiteface mountain( all the Olympic skiing events) is utilized for skiing every year, and while it’s currently under going construction, the 1980 Oval ( outside speed skating track) is used every year, as are the 1932 Rink, 1980s Rink and the USA Rink( All the are full sized ice rinks in the Olympic Center) Currently, all of our venues are getting a bit of a face lift. We’ve been chosen to host the 2023 University Games. I saw all that.. I worked at the Olympic Center until Covid. The athletes village was actually the prison in Raybrook, NY. Yes, it was built as a prison, but it was used as the athlete’s village for the 1980s Olympics. My grandfather was at the 1932 Olympics at the Mt. VanHovenburg( bobsled run)! As far as the Olympic Flame, they do light that during and for certain events. Opening and closing ceremonies were held at the horse show grounds. I hope you get to come back , and see it all in motion, it’s pretty cool. I person don’t care for the Olympics, and sadly they want to put a bid on hosting a 3rd Olympics…. That I think would the a bad thing. Lake Placid is to small, it wasn’t big enough for the ‘80 Olympics.

[@Bxr12]

It’s unfathomable that the Montreal stadium could cost half a billion to demolish. Once detonated, the cost is removal of aggregate material (concrete) and rebar etc. I find it very hard to believe the costs would be that high unless it represented paying off additional debt that requires satisfying before demolishing the structure.

[@boring7823]

I imagine nobody knows how to demolish that sloping structure safely. To find out how they might even have to build a couple of copies of to test what happens when they try the results of computer simulation. Or maybe just do it brick by brick with jack-hammers and lots of safety lines.

[@Bxr12]

@@boring7823 that’s an interesting thought. I also had initially thought that seeing the cantilever is surrounded by a concrete shell that’s also to be demolished - they could simply detonate the cantilever and let it fall to the ground. I suspect the seismic shockwave from the fall could damage surrounding utility infrastructure or crack roadways and buildings. Shit, maybe the half a billion isn’t an insane amount after all.

[@boring7823]

@@Bxr12 I just did an image search of that site; it's giving me vibes of a trebuchet, drop it the wrong way and half a ton of rubble flies toward the city center. Definitely not taking any chances like that.

[@maximilianschug6271]

Kinda hard to grasp how bad some of these Olympic venues' stoires go, when contrasted against those here in munich. I am confident in saying that if not for Corona, I'd have been attending an event of one kind or another in those here in munich at least every other month.

[@bluegold1026]

The solutions are obvious: cut down on the number of sports and utilize temporary and existing facilities whenever possible. No excuses. Perhaps the IOC could learn a few things from FISU and their World University Games, who not only do the aforementioned solutions, but have a list of compulsory sports (that don't require a purpose-built venue) while allowing host cities to choose up to 3 optional sports to include on the program.

[@rubiconnn]

Or they could just host the events out in an open field with some portable bleachers. There is zero reason why people need to sit in a billion dollar stadium to watch a few people kick a ball around or run in circles.

[@ande100]

Better solution: maintain and upgrade former VERY successful sites as only future locations; no further waste of $$$$, environment etc etc! Games stay the same, money saved and sooo much less fallout and distruction, loss of habitat!

[@anivicuno9473]

But that defeats the purpose of the olympics, to transfer national wealth into the pockets of politicians, their friends, and the IOC

[@bluegold1026]

@@ande100 Only problem with that, as well as having a permanent host, is that it wouldn't be fair for athletes who have to travel half a world away for the competition and have to deal with jet lag from crossing multiple time zones.

[@bluegold1026]

@@rubiconnn I sense a hint of sarcasm.

[@BewareTheLilyOfTheValley]

I just keep running into your multiple channels, lol! I always knew they were out there but only now are they being recommended to me. It's like some kind of Easter egg hunt, without looking in the description to find all of the names :)

[@loridresser9420]

Hello Simon, have you done one on the few that succeeded? The LA ones were spectacular. Thanks

[@Bozar069]

The Georgia Dome says more about the excess of the NFL then anything. I bet the owner of the Falcons hit Atlanta with the old "we can always find another city willing to build us a new stadium" line.

[@keithmoore5306]

and my response would have been don't let the door hit where ma` nature split you!!!

[@flyriver]

Georgia Dome wasn't The Olympic Stadium, it was a venue for Gymnastics and basketball. Olympic stadium was reduced in size by half to form a Basaball stadium for the Braves. It is still there. I think a local university uses it now. This was a part of the original Plan. Also the paralymics use the same facilities after the regular Olympics even though they don't get alot of press.

[@zeroone8800]

The stadium life cycle in the US is it's rapidly becoming 20 to 30 years. Public money should not be used on them, but they definitely shouldn't when only lasting that long.

[@GP-wu1eu]

He in fact did do that, and did get a new stadium in Atlanta. Mercedes Benz stadium

[@dolamrothknight]

after finding out that citys pay for them. na im good you can all fuck off to different citys. i want New Parks Roads lights. not a stadium that hurts local business.

[@adriankalitka3762]

I went to Lake Placid 5 years ago in the winter and it was awesome. It's a party town and it's still getting a ton of use. I personally did the bobsled and skeleton(crazy awesome and scary as shit). It's still getting a ton of use and that was the site of the 1980 Winter Olympics. I guess it's how it's managed both in the planning stages and post Olympics that really matter. It seems though that none of these big stadiums ever survive

[@stephenlane9168]

I find these videos on white elephant infrastructures oddly satisfying and riveting watching Simon & team 👌

[@WillBravoNotEvil]

I lived through Atlanta '96. It was ridiculous. Like a 2-year drunken Amway convention. You just can't talk people out of being stupid.

[@1joshjosh1]

1988 Calgary broke even(cash)with theirs. And they continue to use the facilities for years. In some cases still do.

[@Noah_E]

I had an uncle that lived near the Atlanta venues and we went by them a few months before and after the Olympics. I remember them putting in trees and landscaping before and how after the games all of it was dead. They didn't bother to water any of it or treat it any way to prevent insect damage. What a colossal waste of effort and money

[@SoSickRick]

lol think of a few months from now? it's fall...

[@damiengitt]

Love the video but the first temporary (build just for the olympique) opening and closing venue was for the winter olympique in Alberville in France

[@vanessanicolas8288]

As a montreal resident i can tell you no locals like the stadium we use it as a way to know where we are in the city, but we also do that with the kraft dinner factory. The metro was the expansion was the only good thing to come out of the olympics.

[@catbuthuman]

I’ve been to both the Georgia dome and the Mercedes-Benz stadium in Atlanta and I must admit the Benz stadium is so much nicer in my opinion.