Photos: What Abandoned 1984 Sarajevo Olympic Venues Look Like Today

Updated

2026-02-18T17:31:04.541Z

Sarajevo, the capital of Bosnia and Herzegovina, hosted the Winter Olympics in 1984.
Not even a decade later, the city was ground zero in the war for Bosnian independence.
Four decades after the Games, many of the Olympic venues have remained abandoned.

Over 40 years ago, the Yugoslavian city of Sarajevo hosted the 1984 Winter Olympics. Many new structures were built, and the Games were seen as something of a reunion since many countries had boycotted the 1980 Summer Olympics held in Moscow.

But six years later, the country would be thrown into turmoil during the Yugoslav Wars, which led to the fall of Yugoslavia. Sarajevo became the capital of a new country, Bosnia and Herzegovina, in 1992, but the fighting didn’t end until 2001.

During the fighting, Olympic venues became battlegrounds, with ski slopes heavily mined and hotels turned into prisons.

While Sarajevo’s story is singular, it’s not the only former Olympics host city where venues now resemble ghost towns. Olympics host countries famously pour millions of dollars into building new venues, which sometimes fall into disrepair after the crowds have gone home.

Milan Cortina, the host of this year’s Olympics, hopes to avoid this costly mistake.

“The Games are capitalizing on existing infrastructure and local winter sports expertise, aiming to create lasting socio-economic benefits for the local population,” said Marie Sallois, the IOC director for sustainability.

Of the 13 venues being used across northern Italy, 11 either already exist or are set to be torn down after the games. The country only needed to construct two new permanent venues, per the IOC.

Here’s what the 1984 Sarajevo Olympic venues look like in 2026.

The 1984 Winter Olympics were held in Sarajevo, Yugoslavia, from February 8 to 19.

The medal podium at the ski jump venue.

Ioanna Sakellaraki / Barcroft Im / Barcroft Media via Getty Images

The 1984 Games were the first Winter Olympics to be held in a socialist state and the second consecutive Games to be held in a socialist country after the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow.

The 1984 Games were seen as a grand reunion, since many Western countries had boycotted the 1980 Summer Olympics, including the US.

Olympic rings are seen on the Jahorina mountain near Sarajevo — The Olympic rings on the Jahorina Mountain near Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina, on February 5, 2019.

Dado Ruvic/Reuters

The US boycotted the Olympics in Moscow in response to the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan in 1979. More than 60 nations refused to take part, according to the US State Department.

In 1984, many of the events took place near Jahorina Mountain, seen here in 2019.

But soon after the Olympics ended, Yugoslavia was thrust into turmoil, with the country formally collapsing in 1992.

Bosnia After the Olympics — Graffiti by London creative collective The Lurkers was written on a destroyed hotel at Mt. Igman.

Amel Emric/AP

A destroyed hotel at Mount Igman, where events including ski jumping were held in 1984, is pictured in 2014.

Sarajevo was almost immediately put under siege — just eight years after the Olympics ended, the bobsled track was turned into an artillery position by the Bosnian Serbs.

1984 sarajevo bobsled track — The bobsleigh track originally built for the 1984 Sarajevo Winter Olympics lies unused on Mt. Trebević.

Tim Goode/PA Images via Getty Images

This is what the bobsled track looked like in 2014 — it’s been almost completely left to nature.

Sylvia Hui at the Associated Press wrote that year, “Today, the abandoned concrete construction looks like a skeleton littered with graffiti.”

Sarajevo was under siege for almost four years, “the longest siege of a capital city in the history of modern warfare,” NPR reported.

abandoned sarajevo olympics — This former Winter Olympic venue in 2014.

Giles Clarke/Getty Images

NPR reported the Bosnian war led to 100,000 deaths and the “worst atrocities in Europe since World War II.”

This hotel, which was built as part of the Olympic Village, was turned into a prison during the war.

Former Winter Olympic Village from 1984 in Sarajevo. — The abandoned shell of a hotel constructed for the 1984 Winter Olympics and where competitors stayed.

Giles Clarke/Getty Images

According to Getty, 10 years after the Winter Olympics, “the hotel was turned into a prison and place of execution for Bosnian Muslims — all overseen by Serb Forces.”

Even the medal podium was turned into an execution site, Bloomberg reported.

By the time the war ended in February 1996, thousands of civilians were dead, and the new country of Bosnia and Herzegovina had to decide how to move forward.

1984 Olympic Venues In Sarajevo — The Sarajevo 1984 Winter Olympics logo was seen on the tower near the Zetra Hall in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina, on July 14, 2015.

Jakub Porzycki/NurPhoto via Getty Images

Many of the Olympic venues had been damaged or destroyed by the constant bombing and warfare.

Decades later, many of the tracks and venues are still empty and abandoned, like these ski jumps at Mount Igman.

According to Getty, “The area around the 90-meter hill was heavily mined during the Bosnian war.”

Here’s what they look like from another angle.

The mountains border the city.

The ski jump was left to the elements.

Moss and debris cover the jumps.

There are reminders of the Olympics scattered throughout the old venues.

1984 sarajevo olympics abandoned — Destroyed Olympic rings on the abandoned Igman Olympic ski jump in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina, on July 14, 2015.

Jakub Porzycki/NurPhoto via Getty Images

These Olympic rings have fallen into disrepair.

Here’s where the judges sat during the ski-jumping competition.

East Germany’s Jens Weißflog and Finland’s Matti Nykänen each took home gold medals in ski jumping that year.

The bobsled track was located on Mount Trebević, which was reachable by cable car from the city. It closed in 1989 and was destroyed during the war.

“The remains of destroyed restaurants, hotels, sports facilities and mountain huts were left to rot and the thousands of mines were cleared at a painstakingly slow pace” after the war ended, The Guardian wrote in 2018.

After the war ended, the track gained two new uses: a place for graffiti artists to paint and a place for bikers to practice.

Downhill bikers Mulic, Hadzic and Kolar train on the disused bobsled track from the 1984 Sarajevo Winter Olympics on Trebevic mountain near Sarajevo — Downhill bikers trained on the disused bobsled track from the 1984 Sarajevo Winter Olympics on August 8, 2015.

Dado Ruvic/Reuters

A photo from 2015 shows downhill bikers using the bobsled tracks for training.

There are hundreds of feet of concrete for artists to express themselves.

Sarajevo Travel Stock — The bobsled track originally built for the 1984 Sarajevo Winter Olympics is now unused on Mt. Trebević.

Tim Goode/PA Images via Getty Images

The walls are covered in tags and street art.

This is what it looked like in early 2018.

Bobsleigh track is seen on Mount Trebevic in Sarajevo — The bobsled track on Mount Trebević on January 16, 2018.

Dado Ruvic/Reuters

The track on Mount Trebević was covered in snow when it was photographed in January 2018.

However, the cable car, which ferried people to the bobsled events on the mountain, triumphantly reopened in 2018.

Tourists look at a view of Sarajevo next to the Mount Trebevic cable car in 2018. — Sarajevo below the Mount Trebevic cable car in 2018.

Tim Goode/PA Images via Getty Images

The cable car follows the same route today as it did during the Olympics.

People can now walk the old tracks without fear.

People walk along the Sarajevo bobsleigh track on Mount Trebevi, built for the 1984 Winter Olympics and later repurposed by Bosnian Serb forces as an artillery position during The 1992-1995 siege of Sarajevo on July 13, 2025 in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina. The war ended with the signing of the Dayton Peace Agreement in 1995, which established Bosnia and Herzegovina's current political structure — People walked along the Sarajevo bobsleigh track on Mount Trebević on July 13, 2025, in Sarajevo.

Pierre Crom/Getty Images

“The mountain has slowly returned to something like its former self,” The Guardian wrote in 2018. “Hotels, restaurants and cafes have been rebuilt, mines swept away and hikers from all over Sarajevo visit en masse.”

Yet, the reminders of the war will always be part of Sarajevo’s history, along with the Olympics.

sarajevo olympics stadium 2019 — A picture taken on March 19, 2019, showed the Kosovo wartime cemetery in Sarajevo.

ELVIS BARUKCIC/AFP via Getty Images

A wartime cemetery was built right next to the Zetra Olympic Hall.

Following the war, the Zetra Ice Hall was rebuilt in 1997 and reopened in 1999. It’s still in use and is now known as the Juan Antonio Samaranch Olympic Hall.

In 2024, Sarajevo marked the 40th anniversary of the Olympics.

Olympic rings adorn ski slopes at Mount Jahorina, used as one of Alpine skiing Olympic venues during Sarajevo's XIV Winter Olympics in 1984, south of Sarajevo, on February 6, 2024 — Olympic rings adorned ski slopes at Mount Jahorina on February 6, 2024.

ELVIS BARUKCIC/AFP/Getty Images

In 2024, some of the slopes remain abandoned. Olympics branding, like these rings, was still visible.

Even though it’s been four decades, graffiti with the Olympic mascot Vucko is still seen on the streets of Sarajevo.

Pedestrians walk past graffiti depicting the official olympic mascot "Vucko" from the XIV Winter Olympic Games held in Sarajevo in 1984, on a painted wall painted mural in a an alley, in Sarajevo city center, on February 7, 2024. — Pedestrians walked past graffiti depicting the official Olympic mascot Vucko in an alley on February 7, 2024.

ELVIS BARUKCIC/AFP/Getty Images

Unfortunately, Sarajevo isn’t the only city that has to reckon with abandoned Olympic venues. There are empty stadiums all over the world.

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