Olympics 2021: Abandoned Games venues that time has forgotten

For two weeks each Olympic cycle, the world watches on as the host city stages sport's biggest extravaganza.

It naturally costs billions as stadiums are built, athletes' villages are erected and host cities are given a spruced-up makeover.

But what happens when it's all over and cities have gone back to normal? Well, Olympic venues are often left abandoned and decaying over the years.

From Sarajevo in 1984 to Rio in 2016, we take a look at some of the abandoned venues that time has forgotten.

1984 Olympics – Sarajevo, Bosnia Herzegovina

Sarajevo in Bosnia-Herzegovina, then part of Yugoslavia, played host to the Winter Olympics in 1984.

Less than 10 years later, most of the Games' venues had been destroyed in Bosnia's war between 1992 and 1995.

A ski jump, accommodation for athletes and a number of hotels were left in ruins and never rebuilt.

One of the podiums was reportedly used as a place to execute Bosnian Muslims, while a hotel has since been turned into a prison.

Watch: Before and after pictures show the billion pound stadiums left to rot

2004 Olympics – Athens, Greece

Greece reportedly spent $11.9bn on hosting the Games in 2004 – 108 years after doing so in 1896 for the first Olympics of modern times.

But the country's well-documented economic crises mean a number of venues have been left to rot.

The official Games village is now covered in graffiti and completely trashed, and there is no money to invest in rebuilding.

2008 Olympics – Beijing, China

The Beijing Olympics reportedly cost over $47bn, but 13 years later, you can't really tell where the money went.

A beach volleyball stadium is disused and dilapidated, with grass covering the sand.

Some of the official Games mascots were later spotted lying among trees behind an abandoned, never-completed mall.

Countless blocks of ancient homes were bulldozed in a building frenzy before the Games.

2016 Olympics – Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

Rio's Olympic Aquatics stadium now looks completely dilapidated after plans to demolish it fell through.

The city's Olympic Park is completely abandoned, except for the stray dogs that are often spotted roaming around.

Basketball courts, football fields and a skate park that were installed for locals to enjoy after the Games are now completely disused.

A judge has since ordered the closure of the Olympic Park due to safety concerns.