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1996 Summer Olympics

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The 1996 Summer Olympics, formally known as the Games of the XXVI Olympiad and informally known as the Centennial Olympics, were celebrated in 1996 in Atlanta, Georgia, United States. Atlanta was selected in September 1990 in Tokyo, Japan, above Athens, Belgrade, Manchester, Melbourne and Toronto.

Selection

Some felt Athens should have had the right to host the games because it marked the 100th anniversary of the modern Olympic games. The IOC instead voted, in 1990, for Atlanta, predicting that Athens' infrastructure could not be improved enough in time to successfully host the Games. Athens would eventually win the right to host the 2004 Summer Olympics.

Effect on the city

The games had a profound impact on the city of Atlanta and many in the Atlanta metro area consider the games to be instrumental in transforming Atlanta into the more modern city it has become since. Examples of this are the mid-rise dormitories built for the Olympic village. One of these complexes became the first residential housing for Georgia State University, and has recently been transferred for use by the Georgia Institute of Technology. Other examples include Turner Field, which was a modification of the original Centennial Olympic Stadium, and where the Atlanta Braves baseball team now makes its home. Centennial Olympic Park was also built for the events and is still in use.

Atlanta used no public money to finance the games, which cost US$1.8 billion to host. It was the first city in Olympic history to use ticket sales, commercial endorsements, advertising, and private money alone to fund the hosting of the Olympics. The consequence of this, however, was that some felt that the games in Atlanta were over-commercialized and were less exciting than previous games.

Incidents

Although the Games made a financial profit, it was not without problems. Allegations were levelled that Atlanta organizers bribed members of the IOC to obtain the Olympic Games. However, ACOG documents were destroyed prior to a formal inquiry and the allegations remain unproven. In his defense, ACOG Chairman Billy Payne said, "Atlanta's bidding effort included excessive actions, even thought processes, that today seem inappropriate but, at the time, reflected the prevailing practices in the selection process and an extremely competitive environment."

Problems of traffic congestion sometimes made travel between venues difficult. More seriously, the Centennial Olympic Park bombing of July 27 1996, killed spectator Alice Hawthorne and wounded 11 others, and elicited the death of Melih Uzunyol by heart attack.

Aside from the problems, IOC President Juan Antonio Samaranch said in his closing speech, "Well done, Atlanta," and called the Games the "most exceptional." He broke with precedent and did not say they had been the best Olympics ever, as he did at every previous Olympic closing ceremony while he was IOC president. This was likely an intentional omission given some of the issues like the Games' over-commercialism, technology and transportation issues. The City of Atlanta was also found to have been competing with the IOC for advertising and sponsorship dollars. The city was licensing street vendors who would sell certain products over others, and therefore providing a presence for companies who were not the official sponsors of the Games. Four years later Samaranch called the 2000 Sydney Olympics the best ever.

Songs and themes

The Olympiad's official theme, Summon the Heroes, was written by John Williams, making it the third Olympiad for which he has composed. The song "The Power of the Dream", composed by Kenneth "Babyface" Edmonds and David Foster, with words by Linda Thompson was performed in the opening ceremony by Céline Dion accompanied by Foster and the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra and Centennial Choir. Gladys Knight sang "Georgia on My Mind", Georgia's official state song, at the opening ceremony. The closing ceremony featured Gloria Estefan singing "Reach", the official theme song of the 1996 Olympics. At the closing of the ceremony Trisha Yearwood performed the Olympics song ["The Flame"]

Mascot

The mascot for the Olympiad was an abstract, animated character named Izzy. In contrast to the standing tradition of mascots of national or regional significance in the city hosting the Olympiad, Izzy was an amorphous, computer-designed fantasy figure. The mascot was popularly ridiculed by the public and press as commercialized, unappealing, and ungrounded in any connection to the region.

Highlights

Venues

Medals awarded

See the medal winners, ordered by sport:

Participating nations

A total of 197 nations were represented at the 1996 Games, and the combined total of athletes was about 10,318. Twenty-four countries made their Olympic debut this year, including eleven of the ex-Soviet countries that competed as part of the Unified Team in 1992. Russia competed independently for the first time since 1912, when it was the Russian Empire. The Federal Republic of Yugoslavia competed as Yugoslavia.

The 14 countries making their Olympic debut were: Azerbaijan, Burundi, Cape Verde, Comoros, Dominica, Guinea-Bissau, FYR Macedonia, Nauru, Palestine, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, São Tomé and Príncipe, Tajikistan and Turkmenistan.

The 10 countries making their Summer Olympic debut (after competing at the 1994 Winter Olympics in Lillehammer) were: Armenia, Belarus, Czech Republic, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Slovakia, Ukraine and Uzbekistan.


Broadcast Rights

Medal count

These are the top ten nations that won medals at these Games:
1 (host nation) 44 32 25 101
2 26 21 16 63
3 20 18 27 65
4 16 22 12 50
5 15 7 15 37
6 13 10 12 35
7 9 9 23 41
8 9 8 8 25
9 9 2 12 23
10 7 15 5 27

Leading medal winners

Men's leading medal winners at the Atlanta games
Pos Athlete's name Sport / discipline Gold Silver Bronze Total
1

Gymnastics 2 1 3 6
2

Swimming 2 2 0 4

Swimming 2 2 0 4
4

Swimming 3 0 0 3
5

Swimming 2 1 0 3
6

Swimming 0 1 2 3
7

Gymnastics 0 0 3 3


Women's leading medal winners at the Atlanta games
Pos Athlete's name Sport / discipline Gold Silver Bronze Total
1

Swimming 4 0 0 4
2

Swimming 3 0 1 4
3

Swimming 2 0 2 4
4

Gymnastics 1 1 2 4
5

Swimming 0 3 1 4
6

Gymnastics 0 1 3 4
7

Swimming 3 0 0 3
8

Gymnastics 2 1 0 3
9

Swimming 1 2 0 3

Swimming 1 2 0 3

Swimming 1 2 0 3
12

Swimming 1 1 1 3
13

Athletics 0 2 1 3

Swimming 0 2 1 3
15

Swimming 0 1 2 3

See also

Olympics with significant criminal incidents

Reference

External links



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Last updated on Thursday March 13, 2008 at 00:09:48 PDT (GMT -0700)
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