OLYMPIC SHAMES

Rio Olympics venues abandoned and in disrepair while Maracana Stadium power is off because nobody can pay the bills

SHOCKING photos show Olympic venues abandoned and in utter disreapir just six months after the Rio Games.

Seats are strewn all around the Maracana Stadium where the power has been turned off because no-one can pay the energy bills.

Reuters
Rio venues already look in decay just six months after the Olympics

Sewage and faeces flow throw the Rio slums despite promises of a clean-up before last summer’s Olympics.


Keep up to date with ALL the sports news 


And a golf course that drew outrage as it was built in a national wildlife reserve is, like so many other places, deserted and dilapidated.

Water in one event pool has turned a dirty orange colour and the Olympic Village is empty, soulless and shabby.

But it is the images of the Maracana that might seem most scandalous.

Those pictures, above all others, show the apparent waste from the two-week, multi-billion-pound extravaganza that millions of Brazilians felt was an insult to years of poverty and under-investment.

Reuters
Orange water is one of the sights that has replaced excitement of the Olympics

Reuters
Children play at what was a proud arena of the world centrepiece of sport

Reuters
Olympic venues in Rio have been abandoned, a sad indictment of elite-level sport

The city had promised to create a wonderful legacy for the city after the Games had been and gone.

Plans were for the aquatic centre to be dismantled and made into a series of municipal pools, while the handball arena or ‘Arena of the Future’ had been earmarked to be dismantled and become four schools.

But when SunSport visited the park in Rio back in April last year, things did not seem to be running smoothly before the Games had even began.

The velodrome, where Bradley Wiggins, Laura Trott and Jason Kenny ended up starring for Team GB, was in a concerning state of incompleteness.

Reuters
It is so hard to see how these sites hosted an Olympics as recently as last summer

Reuters
Abandoned and wasted – another sad monument to the Rio Games

Reuters
A woman with a baby stands in front of the Deodoro Sports Complex

But the city did manage to turn around and put on an impressive show, even if some athletes and media pundits admitted it was rough around the edges.

Many questioned why Rio was hosting a Games when they could not fill the stadia, with marquee events like the athletics – where Usain Bolt was on the track – and swimming not being filled.

Unsurprisingly the Maracana was full for the football, as Brazil won men’s Olympic gold on penalties, but now even the great ground that has had the likes of Pele, Socrates and Neymar gracing its turf, lies in disrepair.

Reuters
Rio venues look so sad and stark now, sparking concern about what happens next

Reuters
The colour and condition of the Maracan surface sums up the plight of the stadium

Reuters
Olympic structures in Rio de Janeiro are already in decline after the Games

RELATED STORIES

KANE IT
Kane breaks silence on Bayern release clause which could see him return to Prem
BEER WE GO
Watch moment fans hurl beer after golfer hits incredible slam dunk hole-in-one
Exit mobile version