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A drained pool filled with mud, crumbled roads and overgrown plots of grass. These eerie images aren't from a post-apocalyptic movie, they are photographs of several Olympic venues in Rio - just seven months after the games finished. Despite promises from the organisers that the billion-dollar site would be used to benefit Brazil's citizens, it remains deserted and dilapidated. The country remains in a deep economic and political crisis following the games and critics believe the money spent on the games could have been better spent on developing infrastructure in the country. 

The behemoth sports stadiums on the sprawling grounds of Rio’s Olympic Park were built to impress international visitors for the 2016 Summer Games. Today, they are eerily deserted. The space reopened as a public recreation area in January, but aside from the occasional security guard, there is hardly a human in sight at the 2.5 billion real ($800 million), 300-acre complex.

The 2016 Summer Olympics in Brazil cost Brazilian taxpayers $4.6 billion, conservative estimates show. But once related expenses covered by the Brazilian government are factored in, the overall costs hit the $12 billion mark, which equates to about 0.72 percent of Brazil’s national budget. Prior to the Olympics, however, the Brazilian government had already spent BR$39.5 billion on infrastructure, or about $12 billion. Stadiums and urban projects designed to ensure the country was ready for the sports event were built, but aside from the events scheduled for 2014 and 2016, there seemed to be little to no demand for such...

Rio de Janeiro pulled off last year's Olympics, keeping crime at bay and fending off dire forecasts of corruption, environmental degradation, and cost overruns. Six months after South America's first games, the floodgates have burst.

Why do cities host Olympic games?    The official answer is always "pride" or to project "modernity" as was the case of Mexico in 1968. Back then, Mexico used the Olympics to project a modern image with skyscrapers, expressways, and a growing middle class. The unofficial, or the other answer, is that they are hoping to create an economic boom. In Brazil's case, there is a great rivalry between Rio and Sao Paulo. We understand that kind of rivalry in Texas thanks to Dallas vs. Houston. So far, the boom did not happen in Rio after the 2016 Olympics. Let's check with...

USA Olympic legend Dr. Sammy Lee – 1948 and 1952 Olympic Gold medalist – passed away on December 2nd, at age of 96, due to pneumonia. He was a true giant in the sport of Olympic diving... At the 1948 Summer Games in London, England, Lee earned a bronze medal in the 3-meter springboard and a gold medal in 10-meter platform diving events. Four years later, he won the gold medal in the 10-meter platform competition at Helsinki, Finland...

Three months since the Rio de Janeiro Summer Olympics, the “marvelous city,” as it’s known, is unraveling.  The state of Rio is broke. It hasn’t been able to pay its bills since long before the games. A federal bailout kept police on the streets and hospitals open while Olympics tourists were in town. But now the money has dried up, and public employees aren’t being paid.

Just three months after the Olympics ended, Rio's beautiful but controversial golf course is eerily quiet with birds' squawks far louder than the whack of balls. Built specially for the 2016 Games on what had been a nature reserve next to the beach in western Rio, the links-style course was meant to convert Brazilians to a sport they barely know and put the city on the international golfing map. But the $19 million facility created by star US designer Gil Hanse risks turning into a white elephant instead. A payment dispute could even lead to the imminent exit of the...

President Barack Obama said at town hall meeting at the Pontifical Catholic University of Peru in Lima, Peru, on Sunday that one of the reasons the United States has an advantage over China in the Olympics is because the U.S. has “a bigger genetic pool than anybody.” “You notice that the United States did really well in the Olympics,” Obama said, according to the transcript of the town hall posted by the White House. […] … “(Y)ou look at a U.S. Olympic team and there are all kinds of different sorts of people of all different shapes and sizes,” Obama...

The bidding process for the Olympics is following an eerily familiar pattern that should make the folks at the International Olympic Committee headquarters in Lausanne, Switzerland choke on their afternoon chocolates. It goes something like this: • World capital city floats idea of an Olympic bid. • IOC welcomes interest.

Full Title: Pictures Have Surfaced Of The Real Damage Caused By Ryan Lochte. Photos have finally been released of the alleged damage caused by American hero Ryan Lochte and his teammates. ESPN reporter Darren Rovell tweeted out a picture of the sign torn off the outside of the gas station in Rio. Rovell also clarified that the sign was given to the gas station for free.

It appears Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe was banking on a precious metal inflow from Rio to fix his nation's ailing economy as he has ordered the arrest of all 31 Zimbabwean Olympic athletes arrested and detained for daring to return home with no medals.

Zimbabwean President, Robert Mugabe instructed the Commissioner General of Zimbabwe Police Republic, Augustine Chihuri to arrest and detain the whole Zimbabwean Olympic Team members immediately they arrived the Harare International Airport on Tuesday, August 23. Zimbabwe which is one of the countries in the Olympics without a medal presented a team of 31 athletes. The closest any of the athletes came to win a contest was at the 8th position. Mr. Mugabe who is incensed with the team’s performance told the Police Chief to arrest all the team members and detain them. “We have wasted the country’s money on these...

Man, that Ryan Lochte, what a jerk! Am I right? Of course I’m right. It’s backed up by journalism. There isn’t a news outlet on the planet that hasn’t carried a story about how Lochte and three other swimmers no one bothers to name got hammered at the Rio Olympics, trashed a bathroom at a gas station, and traumatized innocent security guards, women, children, and plant life alike. But what if it didn’t happen that way? What if, with the exception of a few minor details flubbed in a drunken haze, Lochte and his fellow mermen told the truth? That...

Controversial South Africa runner gives her gold medal to her adoring wife to look after as she is mobbed on return from Rio Controversial runner Caster Semenya arrived home to South Africa today after her predictably dominant victory in the women’s 800-metre race at Rio 2016. The athlete handed her gold medal to her wife Violet Raseboya after arriving at Johannesburg Airport following the row over her involvement in the Olympics. Semenya, 25, who once had to undergo humiliating gender testing to prove she was female, took gold and set a new national record of one minute 55 seconds. Johannesburg...

On the Tube in London there’s a sign saying “Mind The Gap” to warn riders to be careful when stepping on the train – NBC might want to pay attention to the expression when it comes to Olympics ratings. With a 4.0/14 rating among adults 18-49 and 16.85 million viewers for the Closing Ceremony of the Rio Games, NBC is looking at the worst Summer Olympics results in decades. Not only are fast affiliates down to the second lowest result of the 2016 Olympics for the Comcast-owned net’s primetime coverage but they took a whooping 56% fall in the...

You heard it all weekend: “Four American swimmers trashed a Rio bathroom in a drunken rage and then lied to investigators about an armed robbery to cover-up their story.” It’s become conventional wisdom from network anchors trying to paint a rosy picture on a troubled Olympics to journalists who embrace the narrative of “ugly Americans” taking advantage of the downtrodden, third world Brazilians. There’s only one problem with this narrative: It appears it’s completely false. USA Today has done a thorough and extensive investigation of the security videos from the gas station in question and they’ve done something Matt Lauer...

Ralph Lauren announced Monday it would not renew its sponsorship contract with Ryan Lochte, becoming the second company to drop the U.S. Olympic swimmer in the wake of his scandal in Rio de Janeiro. Earlier Monday, Speedo USA executives said the company would drop its sponsorship of Lochte and donate $50,000 to charity. In Ralph Lauren's case, the company stated its contract with Lochte was for the 2016 Rio Olympics only, and would not be renewed. "Ralph Lauren continues to sponsor the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Team and the values that its athletes embody."

After an apparently sleepless night for both divers – albeit for very different reasons – the two finished in last place in the women’s 10-meter synchronized platform dive, a performance described as "pathetic" by local outlets.... Blame it on Rio.

A patriotic pole vaulter stopped right before a qualifying jump in Rio to pay attention to his national anthem. US Army reservist Sam Kendricks, 23, from Mississippi, was running pole in hand when he heard the first notes of the Star-Spangled banner. The second lieutenant was set to perform one of his attempts to qualify that day - but instead stopped dead in his tracks and let go of his pole to respectfully stand still.