5 Olympic Games that proved disastrous for the host nations

#2 1976 Montreal Summer Olympics

14-year old Nadia Comaneci of Romania won three Gold Medals in Gymnastics at the 1976 Monteal Games.

The authorities in charge of overseeing the Montreal Olympics in 1976 had pegged the cost of the Olympics at USD 110 million. However, by the time the Olympic village, with a residential complex and state-of-the-art sporting facilities, was completed, the same authorities realised that they had worked up a USD 922 million deficit.

The deficit, which was largely a result of construction overheads, wouldn’t be cleared for thirty years. So disastrous was the financial impact of the Montreal Games on Canada that many countries were dissuaded from vying for an Olympic bid. It didn’t help matters that Canada failed to pocket even a single Gold Medal in the event.

However, in 1977, the Olympic stadium commenced its second innings as the home of the Montreal Expos, the Major League baseball team.