The Olympic Games 2024 in Paris are coming to an end this week – but what happens to the venues when it’s all over?
Mr Airborne, as he’s known online, is an avid explorer and shares his explorations of abandoned buildings across the world with his 163,000 followers on Facebook.
With the women’s volleyball quarterfinals taking place today (6 August), he’s revealed the remains of a stadium built specifically for the sport during the 2004 Olympics in Athens, Greece.
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Posting a video to Facebook, which racked up 10,000 views and hundreds of likes, the 29-year-old show the state of the derelict and decaying site.
“Inside the stadium is quite eerie and gives that apocalyptic feel,” Mr Airborne, from Birmingham, told What’s The Jam.
“[It was] completely derelict and the roof was starting to come away due to the wind from the sea.
“Everywhere was very run down.”
The Faliro Olympic Beach Volleyball Centre officially opened on 2 August 2004, a few weeks before the games were due to start.
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As of August 2014, though, the venue was found in a state of disuse.
While it’s currently proposed to be rebuilt and turned into a courtroom, the stadium still appeared “ghost like” when Mr Airborne visited in March 2024.
On the exterior, the walls are covered in graffiti, with rust beginning to overtake the metal staircases.
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While the seating remains, its grey-tone and dusty surface suggests no one has sat there in a long time.
Mr Airborne said: “It was fascinating to see all the chairs in the stands still there.
“Trees had grown in the middle of the stadium where there was once a volleyball net.
“Olympic memorabilia was scattered around and bits of equipment.”
He visited the site with two of his friends, Will and Jamie, after accessing it through a fence toward the back which had fallen down.
Police were alerted a few hours later and the trio were escorted back to their car, with the explorer claiming no further action was taken against them.
Now, with the Paris Olympics almost over, Mr Airborne is questioning what will happen to these stadiums in the near future.
He added: “Honestly, this is just a recurring theme all around the world and we are a throw away society.
“This is just one of thousands of Locations I have explored that money has just been thrown down the drain and buildings left to decay.
“But this is what I love, and the more abandoned buildings, the more there is for me to explore.”
Jam Press has contacted The Hellenic Police for comment.
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