1. Athens, Greece — home of the 1896 Summer Olympics
A podium is shown inside the marble Panathinaikon stadium in Athens, Greece. The Panathenaic Stadium was the venue of the first modern Olympics in 1896 and was also used for the archery events and the finish of the marathon during the 2004 Athens Games. While the the Panathenaic Stadium is still used locally for sporting events, many of Greece's once-gleaming Olympic venues have since been abandoned.
The Olympic rings outside of the Helliniko Olympic complex is seen in ruins. The cost of hosting the games was estimated to be approximently 9 billion euros, with the majority of sporting venues built specifically for the games.
Seats are pictured at the disused Olympic hockey stadium. Because to Greece's economic frailties, there has been no further investment and the majority of the newly constructed stadiums now lie abandoned.
A chair is left discarded among rubbish in a swimming pool of the former Olympic Village in Athens, Greece.
Palms and other wild vegetation now inhabit the beach volleyball Olympic stadium in Athens.
The Olympic softball stadium in Athens.
The stands of the abandoned Olympic Canoe and Kayak Slalom Centre at the Hellenikon Complex in Athens.
Garbage floats in a deserted swimming pool at the Olympic Village in Athens.
2. Berlin, Germany — home of 1936 Summer Olympics
Deserted houses for the athletes in the former Olympic Village of the 1936 Olympic Games in Berlin.
An abandoned swimming pool from the '36 Olympic Games in Berlin.
Deserted athletes quarters in the former Olympic Village of the 1936 Olympic Games in Berlin.
A peeling Soviet mural is still visible in the former Olympic Village of the 1936 Olympic Games in Berlin.
3. Atlanta, Georgia — home of the 1996 Summer Olympics
The Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium, used as a Centennial Olympic venue in Atlanta, Georgia, begins to fall after 350 pounds of explosives detonate in 1997.
4. Beijing, China — home of the 2008 Summer Olympics.
Chinese tourists look through a security fence at the National Stadium, also known as the "Bird's Nest", which was the venue for the athletics and the opening and closing ceremonies of the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing.
A sign stands at a deserted field showing where the stadium for the 2008 Olympic Games baseball competition once stood in central Beijing.
The 2008 Beijing Olympics venue for the beach volleyball competition lies deserted and unmaintained.
A lone dog sits atop glass plates at a deserted field that was once where the 2008 Olympic Games baseball competition was held.
5. Sarajevo, Bosnia — home of the 1984 Winter Olympics
A concrete podium for winners with the text "Winter Olympic Games 1984" stands abandoned at Mt. Igman, near the Bosnian capital of Sarajevo.
The disused bobsleigh track from the Sarajevo 1984 Winter Olympics is seen on Mount Trebevic, near Sarajevo. Abandoned and left to crumble into oblivion, most of the 1984 Winter Olympic venues in Bosnia's capital Sarajevo have been reduced to rubble.
The Olympic rings are seen on the disused ski jump from the Sarajevo 1984 Winter Olympics.
Downhill bikers train on the disused bobsled track from the 1984 Sarajevo Winter Olympics.
Graffiti by London creative collective The Lurkers is written on a destroyed hotel at Mount Igman.
A dog walks past the Olympic snowflake logo on the wall of the Kosevo stadium, the venue of the opening ceremony for the 1984 Winter Olympics in Sarajevo.
The Opening Ceremony begins Friday, Aug. 5, at 7:30 ET/6:30 CT on NBC. Click here for more Olympics content!
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CORRECTION
The mural found in the former Olympic Village of the 1936 Olympic Games in Berlin has been correctly identified as Soviet in origin.
