Olympic Games of 1996

The Event The staging of the XXVI Summer Olympiad, an international athletic competition held every four years

Date July 19-August 4, 1996

Place Atlanta, Georgia

The 1996 Olympic Games demonstrated that there was tremendous fan interest in the Olympics, as two million visitors came to Atlanta and another 3.5 billion spectators watched the Games through mass media.

In September, 1990, during the ninety-sixth International Olympic Committee (IOC) session in Tokyo, it was announced that Atlanta, by a vote of fifty-one in favor and thirty-five against, would be the host city for the 1996 Olympic Games. The 1996 Games would mark the centennial anniversary of the Olympic Games. Several other cities had submitted proposals to host the Games, including Athens, Belgrade, Manchester, Melbourne, and Toronto. Many thought that Athens would get the bid since it was in Athens where the inaugural 1896 Olympic Games took place. However, in part because of the unstable economic conditions in Greece, the committee selected Atlanta. The year 1996 marked the fourth time that the Summer Games were held in the United States: 1904 in St. Louis, 1932 and 1984 in Los Angeles.

On July 19, 1996, the opening ceremony to the twenty-sixth Summer Olympics took place in the host city, Atlanta. The opening ceremony was attended by a crowd of 83,000 at the Olympic stadium. President Bill Clinton officially opened the Games, and boxing great Muhammad Ali lit the Olympic torch. The Games were presided over by IOC president Juan Antonio Samaranch.

The 1996 Games were not burdened with the political and economic strife that plagued the Games in the 1970’s and 1980’s, but 1996 was not free of tragedy. On July 27, a pipe bomb located at the Centennial Olympic Park exploded during a concert, killing one spectator and wounding 111.

Economics of the Games

In funding the $1.8 billion Games, which were the most expensive to date, Atlanta received considerable contributions from the private sector. Corporate sponsors such as Atlanta-based companies Coca-Cola and the Cable News Network (CNN) provided considerable support. The six-year preparation for the Games included revitalizing the downtown area with hotel expansion, addition of new restaurants and businesses, and $500 million to construct new athletic facilities and improve existing facilities. More than two million visitors came to Atlanta during the Olympic Games, and an estimated 3.5 billion people watched the 1996 Olympics on television worldwide. The IOC had negotiated a television contract with the National Broadcasting Company (NBC) for $456 million to give NBC the rights to broadcast the Games. The overall economic impact on the city was $5.14 billion, and as a result, the Games made a profit. More significant was the impact of the Games in revitalizing Atlanta’s downtown area and moving Atlanta forward as a modern city.

Olympic Venues

More than twenty-five different athletic sites were used for competition. Many of the top spectator events of the Olympics, including the opening and closing ceremonies, were located at sites located within the downtown area of Atlanta. As a result, there were numerous traffic problems, which became a major criticism of the Games. A twelve-acre Olympic Centennial Park was developed in the heart of the downtown area. The 85,000-seat Olympic Stadium was constructed for the opening and closing ceremonies and to be used for the track-and-field competitions. At the conclusion of the Olympic Games, the stadium was modified to become the home of the Atlanta Braves baseball team.

Existing facilities were used to accommodate the competition of several sports. The Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium was used for baseball competition; the Omni Coliseum, home of the National Basketball Association (NBA) Atlanta Hawks, was used for volleyball matches. The Georgia Dome, with a seating capacity of 69,000, was used for men’s and women’s basketball as well as artistic gymnastics and team handball. Neighboring colleges and universities provided their facilities for competition. For the first time in Olympic history, all four of the aquatics sports—diving, swimming, synchronized swimming, and water polo—were held at the same venue: the Georgia Tech Aquatic Center. In addition, Georgia Tech’s Alexander Memorial Coliseum, home to Georgia Tech’s basketball team, was used for boxing matches. The campus of Georgia State University was used for badminton competition. The Georgia World Congress Center was used for fencing, judo, table tennis, weight lifting, and wrestling. Although many of the competitive sports were conducted at facilities located in the downtown area, there were several competitive events that were located elsewhere. Canoe and kayak events were held on the Ocoee River in Cleveland, Tennessee. Columbus, Georgia, was the site for the softball events. Soccer matches were played in Miami, Orlando, Washington, D.C., and Birmingham, Alabama, and finals were held at the University of Georgia campus located in Athens, Georgia.

Medals

A total of 10,318 athletes (3,512 women, 6,806 men) from 197 nations participated in the 1996 Olympic Games. A record-setting seventy-nine nations won medals and fifty-three won gold. Three new sports were introduced: mountain biking, softball (women), and beach volleyball. In addition, women’s football (soccer) made its first Olympic appearance. Cycling professionals were permitted for the first time, and each soccer team that qualified was allowed to have three professional soccer players. A total of 1,933 medals were awarded. The top four nations with medal accumulations and gold medals won were the following: The United States won the most medals, 101, and the most gold medals, 44; Russia had a total of 63 medals and 26 gold; Germany had 65 total medals and 20 gold; China had a total of 50 medals and 16 gold. There were seventeen Olympic records in track-and-field events and two world records. In aquatics, twelve Olympic and four world records were established.

Athletic Achievements

In track and field, Donovan Bailey of Canada won the gold medal in the men’s 100 meters with a world record of 9.84 seconds. Michael Johnson of the United States won gold medals in the men’s 200 and 400 meters, setting a new world record in the 200 meters with a time of 19.32 seconds. Gail Devers of the United States won the gold in the women’s 100 meters. Marie-José Pérec received gold medals in the women’s 200 and 400 meters. This was the second Olympic Games in which she won a gold medal in the 400 meters; it was the first time that a runner of either sex won the 400 meters twice. The United States won gold medals in the men’s 110-meter hurdles (Allen Johnson) and the 400-meter hurdles (Derrick Adkins). Canada achieved the gold medal in the men’s 4-by-100-meter relay, with the United States winning the silver. The U.S. men won the gold in the 4-by-400-meter relay. U.S. women achieved gold medals in both relays. Carl Lewis, at the age of thirty-five, won the gold medal in the long jump; he was one of only three athletes ever to win the same individual event four times. This was the last Olympics for Lewis. During his Olympic career, he compiled a total of nine gold medals, becoming one of only four Olympic athletes to achieve this feat.

Men and women swimmers from the United States won gold medals in all of the relay events, with a world record in the men’s 4-by-100-meter medley. Amy Van Dyken of the United States won four gold medals in swimming; she was the first American woman to win four titles in a single Olympics. World records were established in men’s 100-meter breaststroke by Belgium’s Fred Deburghgraeve and in women’s 100-meter breaststroke by Penelope Heyns of South Africa. Russia’s Denis Pankratov set a world record in the men’s 100-meter butterfly. Gary Hall, Jr., of the United States and Alexander Popov of Russia each won four medals in swimming, two gold and two silver.

In gymnastics, Alexei Nemov of Russia compiled a total of six medals, the most of any athlete during the 1996 Olympics. U.S. women won the gold medal in women’s gymnastics, and Kerri Strug became the heroine as she had to endure an injury during her final event. Another U.S. athlete who had to overcome an injury during competition was wrestler Kurt Angle, who won the gold medal in the 100-kilogram weight class while suffering a fractured neck. In tennis, Andre Agassi of the United States won the gold medal in men’s singles, and fellow American Lindsay Davenport won the women’s gold medal.

In basketball, U.S. men’s and women’s teams won gold medals. On April 7, 1989, the international basketball rules were changed to allow professional basketball players to compete in the Olympic Games. In 1992 in Barcelona, the first “Dream Team” of NBA superstars represented the United States. In 1996, another Dream Team was gathered, which consisted of NBA players and was coached by Lenny Wilkins, the NBA’s all-time winning coach. The team was undefeated at 8-0, and the attendance on the average was 32,263 fans when they played. In baseball, Cuba won the gold medal, Japan the silver, and the United States the bronze. The United States won the gold medal in the debut sport of softball. With players such as Mia Hamm, Brandi Chastain, and Julie Fowdy, the U.S. women’s soccer team won the gold medal.

Impact

The hosting of the 1996 Olympic Games proved to be an economic success for Atlanta. The Games served as a significant force to the revitalization of the downtown area in Atlanta. Corporate sponsors played a major role in contributing to the financial support for hosting the Games; however, there was criticism that the Games were overcommercialized as a result of corporate involvement.

Bibliography

Albertson, Lisa H., ed. Athens to Atlanta: One Hundred Years of Glory. Salt Lake City, Utah: Commemorative Publications, 1996. Provides an overview of the 1996 Olympic Games.

Guttmann, Allen. The Olympics: A History of the Modern Games. 2d ed. Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 2002. A look at the political and social climate of the Olympic Games.

Miller, David. Athens to Athens: The Official History of the Olympic Games and the IOC. Edinburgh: Mainstream, 2003. Definitive history of the Olympics, including engaging stories of competitors.

Payne, Michael. Olympic Turnaround: How the Olympic Games Stepped Back from the Brink of Extinction to Become the World’s Best Known Brand. Westport, Conn.: Praeger, 2006. Provides a business perspective on the Olympics by the IOC’s first marketing director.

Pound, Richard W. Inside the Olympics: A Behind-the-Scenes Look at the Politics, the Scandals, and the Glory of the Games. Etobicoke, Ont.: John Wiley & Sons Canada, 2004. A well-written inside look at the Games from a former IOC vice president.

Wallechinsky, David. The Complete Book of the Summer Olympics. Woodstock, N.Y.: Overlook Press, 2000. Packed with statistics and records from the 1896 Olympics through the 1990’s.