Here's what happens to Olympic venues after the games are over

Reuters/Dado Ruvic

The bobsled course in Sarajevo.

Rio de Janeiro is gearing up to host the 2016 Summer Olympics.

After the medals have been awarded and the athletes have all gone home until the next games, host cities are left with massive leftover stadiums and venues. After that, it's often hard to find a use for giant stadiums, pools, and courses.

Sometimes cities are able to successfully repurpose parts of their Olympic set-ups, but oftentimes these giant investments are torn down or abandoned.

Here are 23 photos that show what happened to recent Olympic sites after everyone left.