Olympic Aquatics Stadium on June 7, 2016, at left, and February 5, 2017, at right. (Getty Images/Reuters) AFP/Getty Images

Cities that play host to the Olympics all too often blow through their cash to rush stadium to completion before the torch is lit, only to have them lay unused a few years or months later.

One of the major selling points of hosting the Olympic Games is the economic benefit to the host city. Rio de Janeiro, for example, built multiple venues for the Olympics that displaced some 80,000 of the city’s lower income residents. Unfortunately, those venues have been virtually abandoned just six months later. Some have been looted for copper wiring, others have been shuttered thanks to financial disputes between Olympics organizers and Rio’s city government, and some sit unused because nothing smaller than an Olympic ceremony can fill them.

Photographs of these venues now are a depressing, but sobering reminder of the hidden costs of the Olympics. Here is a selection of the most poignant photos.

A view of the Olympic Aquatics Stadium seen in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil February 5, 2017. (Pilar Olivares/Reuters)

This Feb. 4, 2017 photo shows translucent tapestries created by Brazilian artist Adriana Varejao, falling from the exterior of Olympic Aquatic stadium inside Olympic Park in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. (Silvia Izquierdo/AP Photos) AP

View of the world-famous Maracana Stadium in Rio de Janeiro on January 18, 2017. (Vanderlei Alameda/AFP/Getty Images) AFP/Getty Images

In this Feb. 2, 2017 photo, a trash can lays by ripped seats at one of the dugouts in Maracana stadium in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. (Silvia Izquierdo/AP) AP

This Feb. 2, 2017 photo shows seats jumbled in a pile inside Maracana stadium in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. (Silvia Izquierdo/AP Photo)

In this Feb. 2, 2017 photo, cables from a stolen TV hang inside Maracana stadium in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. (Silvia Izquierdo/AP Photo) AP

Abandoned prefabricated houses remain next to the Olympic golf course, created and used for the Rio 2016 Olympic Games and now run by the Brazilian Golf Confederation for the public, in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on November 23, 2016. (Yasuyoshi Chiba/AFP/Getty Images) AFP/Getty Images

An aerial view shows the 2016 Rio Olympics golf venue which was used for the Rio 2016 Olympic Games, in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, January 15, 2017. (Nacho Doce/Reuters) REUTERS

This Feb. 2, 2017 photo shows the inside of Maracana stadium in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. (Silvia Izquierdo/AP Photo)

—RealClearLife Staff

