Is it mainly the cities that get the Summer Olympics that have nice, purpose-built buildings to leave behind as legacies for the city? Although many buildings and other things came together due in part to the 2010 Olympics in Vancouver, nothing really amazing like the aquatic centres in both Beijing and London was designed. I guess if the city ever got a Summer Olympics (which is much bigger is scale, and totally appropriate for a mild-weathered city like Vancouver), Zaha Hadid can make us a colosseum-shaped aquatic centre to match her main library branch downtown?
Okay, I actually really like the look of her London 2012-designed aquatic centre:
Photos from http://www.dezeen.com
The Watchtower of the Olympics, Orbit, designed by Anish Kapoor.