The echoes of cheering and chanting are long gone, and the wind, from lifting the flags of nations, has given itself to the slapping of smashed boards and carrying the chirping of frogs from the disused Olympic swimming pools. Where once a nation’s pride shone for the world to see, padlocks and rusted gates lamely hide the evidence of a colossal waste, a sadly recurring
theme in post-Olympic site management as evidenced by the current state of a number of venues in Athens (where the Games were held in 2004) and Beijing (2008).