baron-pierreIV Posted October 14, 2014 Report Share Posted October 14, 2014 Wow! Didn't know that even the 2004 Olympic Village is just rotting away from disuse. I mean...they couldn't even put the gypsies in there? I guess the white elephants of 2004 just show what the ancient Games have really come to mean in the land of their birth. http://www.businessinsider.com/abandoned-athens-olympics-venues-2014-8#the-entrance-has-been-blocked-12 The article also shows same, sad venues of Sarajevo. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ikarus360 Posted October 15, 2014 Report Share Posted October 15, 2014 No wonder why most want to stay away of this grotesquerie those days. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gold Coast Lions Posted October 15, 2014 Report Share Posted October 15, 2014 At least there is still some water in the pools but not much very very sad Athens 2004 were my 1st games I watched when I was 10 years old I was too young to remember Sydney 2000. I hope Sarajevo host again and someday Athens. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lord David Posted October 17, 2014 Report Share Posted October 17, 2014 Sarajevo, maybe. Athens, probably not. Perhaps a European Games would return some glory for Athens, but another Olympics is too much for them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mr.bernham Posted October 20, 2014 Report Share Posted October 20, 2014 Sarajevo, maybe. Athens, probably not. Perhaps a European Games would return some glory for Athens, but another Olympics is too much for them. Well they still have everything. Maybe they would finish on time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
runningrings Posted October 20, 2014 Report Share Posted October 20, 2014 If the old theory of a 'permanent home' for the Games in Athens actually happened, it would probably be a good thing for greece. That constant cash injection every four years using existing venues ... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mr.bernham Posted October 20, 2014 Report Share Posted October 20, 2014 If the old theory of a 'permanent home' for the Games in Athens actually happened, it would probably be a good thing for greece. That constant cash injection every four years using existing venues ... Well there is a flip side of white elephants, it means you can host again without having to build new venues, you just need to upgrade the ones you built last time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gold Coast Lions Posted October 20, 2014 Report Share Posted October 20, 2014 The only thing needs to happen in Athens is upgrade everything from the 2004 games and build an BMX track and Golf Course new events since the Athens 2004 games. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
runningrings Posted October 20, 2014 Report Share Posted October 20, 2014 The only thing needs to happen in Athens is upgrade everything from the 2004 games and build an BMX track and Golf Course new events since the Athens 2004 games. Wow - how did you work this out? Please tell. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
baron-pierreIV Posted October 20, 2014 Report Share Posted October 20, 2014 If the old theory of a 'permanent home' for the Games in Athens actually happened, it would probably be a good thing for greece. That constant cash injection every four years using existing venues ... But no, the IOC wants to rotate the Games. That was great-great-grandpappy's vision! Two very powerful organizations, the Int'l Secret Society of Stadia, Expo Pavilion and Cauldron Designers and Architects (secretly headed by Ziha Hadid) and the Int'l Association of Bid Consultants (headed by Mike Lee) will not stand to have the Games. World Cup, Expos, etc., sited only in one place. When would they get to design new stadia? How would they pay their bills? They need the new host locations every 2-4 years for a steady stream of income!! Besides, Greece already has the "Flame-Lighting" ritual every 2 years and the Castaic Springs ritual (for the Delphic Games), so that's enough tourist income for them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
runningrings Posted October 26, 2014 Report Share Posted October 26, 2014 Just a thought - anyone know if the Athens cauldron can still bend over? Has it been used since 2004? Has it even been relit since 2004? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
baron-pierreIV Posted October 27, 2014 Report Share Posted October 27, 2014 This end of the stadium on Google maps doesn't show the cauldron anymore -- but the (or one) scoreboard is there. It could be on the other side. But what good would it do to leave it there? I mean it's probably been disconnected from its gas pipes. So why else would they have it there? https://www.google.com/maps/@38.0341874,23.7879144,3a,75y,347.57h,102.96t/data=!3m4!1e1!3m2!1sLEgTPyZQezjGTIQLxh9nug!2e0!6m1!1e1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
runningrings Posted October 27, 2014 Report Share Posted October 27, 2014 Because it was designed to compliment the Calatrava roof. It's as much part of that stadium as LA's is. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TorchbearerSydney Posted October 27, 2014 Report Share Posted October 27, 2014 Just a thought - anyone know if the Athens cauldron can still bend over? Has it been used since 2004? Has it even been relit since 2004? Aren't the Greeks experts in bending over...I am sure they could make it happen... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mattygs Posted October 27, 2014 Report Share Posted October 27, 2014 It was there in 2011 when I visited, and I've just had a look at one of Michael's photos from his trip to Athens in the last month, and it's still there in all its glory. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
runningrings Posted October 27, 2014 Report Share Posted October 27, 2014 It was there in 2011 when I visited, and I've just had a look at one of Michael's photos from his trip to Athens in the last month, and it's still there in all its glory. Thats great! since my post I had a look on Google Earth, and it appears to be there. I'm doubtful it is still in an operational condition (assumption of course). Does it look smaller in real life? It strikes me as one of those landmarks that might be a bit smaller than it appears on TV. Interesting that the original proposal was to be 110 m tall. Very sad to see OAKAs declining condition on Google Streetview. I hope one day the Park is restored - it really is one of the most beautiful Olympic precincts built, architecturally (it does seem to lack the greenspaces of London, Sydney and Munich.) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mattygs Posted October 27, 2014 Report Share Posted October 27, 2014 I kinda thought it did seem smaller that I thought it would, however, I thought that about almost every cauldron I saw. When you think about how such a central point of any given main stadium it is, and how it is the focal feature of any opening ceremony, I was surprised at how tiny they appeared. Nagano's, Munichs and Barcelona's seemed pretty small to me. I think they had just finished with the special Olympics when I was in Athens, but even then, it looked so sparse. I think the problem is there seems to be no natural reason to go out there. Whereas Barcelona, Munich, Sydney etc are all bustling with life, I don't think I saw anyone else at the Athens Olympic park. Graffiti everywhere, though to be fair, 2011 seemed to be the European summer of people tagging important or historic buildings. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
runningrings Posted October 27, 2014 Report Share Posted October 27, 2014 I remember finding Munich's cauldron tucked away in trees. Funny little stainless steel thing, looked almost like it was a sewer vent! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
baron-pierreIV Posted October 30, 2014 Report Share Posted October 30, 2014 You guys. This is the only this site that venerates the caldera!! They're really just good for a particular Games - the way Heatherwick envisioned it; and that's it. They shouldn't be some huge, gigantic thing that those meshuggana Italians, Chinese or Russians did. That's why they're so much smaller in the other cases. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
micheal_warren Posted November 20, 2014 Report Share Posted November 20, 2014 Hi yep haven't long been back from a month in Europe. I spent time visiting the Athens Olympic Park and can confirm the cauldron is still up. The park itself is pretty depressing now. Its quite sad really. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
intoronto Posted January 16, 2015 Report Share Posted January 16, 2015 Another estimate of Athens Olympics cost The 2004 Athens Olympics cost Greece a total of E6.5 billion ($A9.75 billion) and didn't significantly affect the debt-heavy country's finances, a Greek economic think tank has found. A study on the economic impact of the games by the Foundation for Economic and Industrial Research says the Athens Olympics had a positive effect on domestic economic activity and employment. But it noted that Greece failed to fully exploit that boost. The study published on Thursday was commissioned and financed by former organising committee chief Gianna Angelopoulos. It estimated that some E2.9 billion ($A4.35 billion) returned to the state coffers in the form of taxes and social security contributions. Half of the total outlay, which excludes Olympics-linked projects such as a new Athens airport and subway, was spent on sports venues. Source Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
baron-pierreIV Posted January 16, 2015 Report Share Posted January 16, 2015 Yeah, but the whole point is a $9.45 billion party for 3 weeks is JUST too big for a country of under 11 million. Larger countries with larger populations just have the capacity to recover soon enough, to make up for shortfalls and make the wounds heal faster than smaller countries with dubious economies. Now, the Greeks just keep refinancing and refinancing their national debt. So if $4.35 billion was returned to the economy, then the Games still caused a hole of $5.1 billion -- which is a bit high for a small country...and apparently the budgets for the Games did NOT include upkeep or even tearing down of the unused venues which are now just rotting away. Look at the projected budgets of the 4 US candidate cities -- between $4.5 and 5 billion, in a large economy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
k.thumb.jpg.74a5101d7cfe2f4df5031c29383dc789.jpg)
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.