These Images of Abandoned Olympic Venues Are Haunting

Every four years, the world's best athletes gather for their chance at gold in the Olympic Games. For only a few short weeks, these Olympic communities are bustling, playing host to droves of athletes and providing the structures they need to compete, eat, and sleep in. For each Olympic Games, millions of dollars are spent constructing stadiums, swimming pools, living quarters, and more for this very reason.

But what happens to these structures once the games have concluded? Some Olympic villages have been converted to university housing developments, private residences, and shopping plazas. Others, however, have fallen into disarray, forever frozen in time. Below, browse through some of the most hauntingly beautiful photos of abandoned Olympic venues from decades past.