Some Beijing Olympic Venues Deserted
This Yahoo! Sports/Reuters photo essay headlined “Beijing’s ’08 Olympic Venues in Shambles” is somewhat misleading. It claims that MOST of the venues built for the 2008 Olympics are either abandoned or demolished which is not true. The biggest venues such as the Bird’s Nest, Water Cube, tennis center, basketball stadium, etc. are well-maintained and in use.
The deserted venue photos are of the baseball, kayaking, BMX racing, rowing, beach volleyball venues along with the velodrome. But, the velodrome is not abandoned at all as international cycling races are held there not infrequently. The dilapidated facilities are for sports that are not popular in China such as baseball, kayaking and BMX racing. They had to be built for the Olympics. So, let’s put things in a little perspective.
The photo essay can be seen here: http://sports.yahoo.com/photos/olympics-before-and-after-beijing-s-2008-olympic-venues-four-years-later-slideshow/bird-s-nest-2008-photo-1340387759.html