Eight years after the 2004 Athens Olympics, many of the expensive facilities built for the event remain largely unused or abandoned, a situation that has worsened over the past two decades. Of the 22 Olympic sites from that year, 20 have been completely abandoned since 2012, turning them into what are known as "white elephants"—expensive projects that provide little or no benefit. The cost of the Games was significantly higher than initially planned, and Greece continues to pay the price in both debt and maintenance expenses. The 2004 Olympics cost between 8.5 and 14 billion euros, more than double the original budget. This expense contributed to 2 to 3 percent of Greece's external debt. Maintaining these unused sites alone costs between 50 and 100 million euros annually, with no revenue generated to offset these costs. The scale of the investment, made for only 16 days of competition, has been described as a "pharaonic" project—referring to the grandeur of ancient Egyptian architecture—highlighting the contrast between the massive investment and the short-term use of the facilities. The Hellinikon complex, built on the site of the former Athens International Airport, is a prime example of this waste. It housed several Olympic venues, including a softball stadium, a baseball stadium, and a canoe-kayak pool, which were used for just two weeks before falling into disrepair. Recent images show overgrown vegetation and even homeless individuals taking shelter in the empty stands. Only 30 percent of the Olympic venues found new uses after the event, underscoring the overall failure of the project. Despite some sites finding new purposes—such as a former broadcasting center now serving as a shopping mall or parts of the Olympic village being converted into private residences—many remain abandoned. The Olympic stadium itself closed in 2024 due to safety concerns with its metal roof. In contrast, cities like Paris have chosen to reuse existing structures rather than build new ones for major events. While the Hellinikon site is now the focus of a large private development project, others, like the Markopoulo shooting center, have found more modest second lives, such as being used as a police training facility.