The abandoned remains of the Sarajevo Olympic Games

The Olympic village in Sarajevo has been abandoned and is now made up of beautiful ruins.

In 1984, the very first Winter Olympics to be held in a communist state took place in the remarkable city of Sarajevo, then a thriving metropolis in the now-defunct host nation of Yugoslavia, and now the modern capital of Bosnia-Herzegovina.

At the time, a record 49 countries took part in the 1984 Winter Olympics. Tens of thousands of spectators covering Mount Trebević cheered on the courageous bobsleigh and luge athletes as they raced down the 1.3 km track at speeds of up to 100 km/h in windy, snowy conditions.

Piste de bobsleigh abandonnée de Sarajevo, Mont Trebevic, Bosnie

Nate Robert – Yomadic.com

Once the pride of the Sarajevo Winter Olympics, the bobsleigh track has since fallen into ruin after falling victim to military action.

The 1300-meter concrete track was completed in 1982 and featured a total of 13 turns for competing luge athletes to take. The expensive public works paid for by the country for events around the venue during the Olympic Games drew huge crowds. The track was able to be reused for World Cup competitions in the years following the Winter Games, and all the signs were that the long track would continue to make money. Unfortunately, when the Yugoslav wars began in 1991, the track, like the rest of the country, became embroiled in the fighting. The curved bends were used as defensive positions by the Bosnian forces, and the whole track was riddled with bullet holes and other wounds.

Nate Robert – Yomadic.com

In 1992, just eight years after the very peaceful Winter Olympics, the city of Sarajevo fell victim to the longest military siege in modern history. Sarajevo was cut off from the world and relentlessly bombarded by forces that had overrun the hills surrounding the city. The inhabitants had little chance of escape, and over 5,000 civilians were killed by rockets and mortars from above and snipers in the streets of downtown Sarajevo. The Olympic pistes became killing fields, and television viewers around the world were once again focused on Sarajevo. This time, bobsleigh and figure skating were replaced by a harsh spectacle of death and destruction, broadcast to audiences around the world, remote control in hand.

Today, the Olympic site on Mont Trebević is completely abandoned. The track is still a favorite spot for local artists and graffiti artists, who have decorated entire sections of the curved track. The bobsleigh track is a reminder of Sarajevo’s prosperous past. In fact, from up here, you can admire the Bosnian capital below.

Nate Robert – Yomadic.com

The trail is on the Trebević, a mountain overlooking Sarajevo, just southeast of the city. Don’t wander around alone or without a local who knows the place inside out: there are still plenty of unexploded mines littering the hill. Here’s a map to find out where the bobsleigh track is:

Click on « more options » to see the exact route. No public transport is available to get there. If you have your own transportation, the location is about a twenty-minute drive from downtown Sarajevo. Without your own car, you’ll need to arrange a local cab driver to take you there and back, or you can always rent your own vehicle for the day. Agencies offer guided tours for around twenty euros, but it’s very crowded… The best thing is to arrange it with a local you trust.

Nate Robert – Yomadic.com

Comparisons with Sochi are inevitable. However, Sarajevo could have been different. After the 1984 Winter Olympics, Sarajevo’s bobsleigh and luge venue remained popular and fully operational. Without the war that broke out here, the track and Mount Trebević would look very different today. Unfortunately, the siege of Sarajevo pushed the 16th Winter Olympics into the background. Will we see the Sochi Olympic venues in the same condition in thirty years’ time? It may well happen before then.