With the Paris Olympic Games underway, the cost of hosting arguably the planet's most famous sporting event has once again come under scrutiny, especially after the COVID-19 pandemic led to a year's delay and left Japan's purpose-built stadiums empty of crowds.

Even in normal times, the economic benefits of hosting the Olympics such as infrastructure and tourism are often short-lived and may not outweigh the huge price tag of building stadiums and other venues. Worse still, many of these sites are never reused and simply left to decay.

Read on to discover the famous Olympic stadiums and sites that became white elephants, ranked by how much they cost to build.

All dollar amounts in US dollars unless otherwise stated. Final Olympic costs adjusted for inflation.

Olympic venues left empty and abandoned