Summer Olympiad (1996)

The 1996 Summer Olympics, formally known as the Games of the XXVI Olympiad and informally known as the Centennial Olympics, celebrated in Atlanta, Georgia, United States. The 1996 Games were given a dramatic start when Muhammad Ali lighted the cauldron. On 27 July during a concert held in the Centennial Olympic Park, a terrorist bomb killed one person and injured a further 110 people, but the Atlanta Games are best remembered for their sporting achievements. A record-setting 79 nations won medals and 53 won gold. Carl Lewis became only the third person to win the same individual event four times and the fourth person to earn a ninth gold medal. Naim Suleymanoglu became the first weightlifter to win a third gold medal. Michael Johnson smashed the 200m world record to complete a 200m and 400m double.

Opening date: 19 July 1996

Closing date: 04 August 1996

Ceremonies

Official opening of the Games by: President Bill Clinton

Lighting the Olympic Flame by: Muhammad Ali (boxing)

Olympic Oath by: Teresa Edwards (basketball)

Official Oath by: Hobie Billingsly (diving)

Participations

197 NOCs (Nations)
10,318 athletes (3,512 women, 6,806 men)
271 events
47,466 volunteers
15,108 media (5,695 written press, 9,413 broadcasters)

Country of the host city: United States of America (USA)

Candidate cities: Athens (GRE), Belgrade (YUG), Manchester (GBR), Melbourne (AUS) and Toronto (CAN)

Sports

• Aquatics
• Archery
• Athletics
• Badminton
• Baseball
• Basketball
• Boxing
• Canoe / Kayak
• Cycling
• Equestrian
• Fencing
• Football
• Gymnastics
• Handball
• Hockey
• Judo
• Modern Pentathlon
• Rowing
• Sailing
• Shooting
• Softball
• Table Tennis
• Tennis
• Volleyball
• Weightlifting
• Wrestling

Venues

• Clark Atlanta University
• Centennial Olympic Stadium (now Turner Field)
• Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium (demolished 1997)
• The Omni (Demolished in 1997 and replaced by Philips Arena in 1999)
• Georgia Dome
• Georgia International Horse Park (Conyers, Georgia)
• Lake Lanier (Near Gainesville, Georgia)
• Georgia World Congress Center
• Georgia State University
• Georgia Tech Aquatic Center
• Forbes Arena (Morehouse College)
• Ocoee River (Polk County, Tennessee)
• Sanford Stadium (Athens, Georgia)
• Savannah River (at Savannah, Georgia)
• Stone Mountain Tennis Center (at Stone Mountain, Georgia)
• Legion Field (Birmingham, Alabama) – Soccer
• Golden Park (Columbus, Georgia) – Softball
• Alexander Memorial Coliseum – Boxing
• The Beach (then known as Atlanta Beach) (Jonesboro, Georgia) - Beach Volleyball

Highlights

• Muhammad Ali lit the Olympic torch during the opening ceremonies of the games and received a replacement gold medal from the 1960 Summer Olympics

• Michael Johnson's (USA-athletics) double success over 200m and 400m was the first for a man in Olympic history. His victory over 200m in 19.32 seconds established a new world record.

• Marie-José Pérec (FRA-athletics) won the 200m and then broke the 400m Olympic record, thus achieving the best performance for ten years. She became the most successful French female athlete of all time and the first sportswoman to win the Olympic title over 400m twice consecutively.

• Naim Suleymanoglu (TUR-weightlifting) became the first weightlifter in history to win three consecutive Olympic titles. "When he eats at a restaurant, nobody asks him to pay the bill; if he breaks the speed limit, he does not get fined, and the police wish him a pleasant journey," wrote a Turkish journalist.

• Slovene gymnast Leon Stukelj arises at the opening ceremony as one of the oldest living sportsmen in the world (age 97).

• Donovan Bailey of Canada wins the men's 100 m, setting a new world record of 9.84 seconds at that time.

• Palestine was allowed to compete in the Olympics for the first time.

• Softball, beach volleyball and mountain biking debut on the Olympic program, together with women's soccer/football and lightweight rowing

• Deon Hemmings becomes the first woman to win an Olympic gold medal for Jamaica and the English-speaking West Indies.

• Five athletes were disqualified for using banned drugs. A few more were reinstated since the drug they took had been declared illegal only a week before the Olympics.

Facts

• Next to the site of the main competition venues was an open area known as the Centennial Olympic Park. The park appeared to be part of the Games, but was not actually a part of the Olympic security system. In the early hours of 27 July, a bomb exploded in the park, killing one person and injuring 110.

• Athletes from a record-breaking 79 countries won medals and 53 countries won gold medals.

• Sailor Hubert Raudaschl (AUT) became the first person ever to compete in nine Olympics. Before he began his streak in 1964, he was a reserve in 1960.

• Tennis player Virag Csurgo (HUN) was entered in the doubles event only. On the morning of 24 July, she was helping a team-mate to warm up when she was informed that one of the singles entrants had failed to appear and Csurgo could take her place if she showed up for the first round match which was to begin in five minutes' time. Wearing her practice shorts and a t-shirt, Csurgo hurried over to the court and actually won the match.

• For the first time in Olympic history, all 197 recognized National Olympic Committees were represented at the Games.

• Each team that qualified for the football tournament was allowed to include three professionals, regardless of age or Olympic experience.

• Some demonstration sports were included in various editions of the Olympic Games up until 1992. The Organizing Committees for the Olympic Games (OCOGs) could integrate demonstration sports into the Olympic programme. However, the organization of these demonstrations created a lot of extra work for the OCOGs, which had to provide services that were almost identical to those for the sports on the Olympic programme. Therefore, at the 95th Session of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), held in 1989 in Puerto Rico, it was decided that demonstration sports would be eliminated definitively from the 1996 Atlanta Games onwards.