What is 1996 Summer Olympics?

Games of the XXVI Olympiad
Games of the XXVI Olympiad
Host city	Atlanta, Georgia, USA
Nations participating	197
Athletes participating	10,320 (6,797 men, 3,523 women)
Events	271 in 26 sports
Opening ceremony	July 19
Closing ceremony	August 9
Officially opened by	President Bill Clinton
Athlete's Oath	Teresa Edwards
Judge's Oath	Hobie Billingsley
Olympic Torch	Muhammad Ali
Stadium	Centennial Olympic Stadium

The 1996 Summer Olympics, formally known as the Games of the XXVI Olympiad and informally known as the Centennial Olympics, were held 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 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 in 1997. There were claims that executives in Atlanta had bribed the IOC officials.^[1] These claims were never substantiated, but they prompted other winning bids from Nagano in 1998, Sydney in 2000, and Salt Lake City in 2002 to be more carefully scrutinized.

Incidents

Although the Games made a financial profit, it was not without problems. Numerous observers considered the Games "over commercialized".^[2] 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 111 others, and elicited the death of Melih Uzunyol by heart attack. Even with the problems, IOC President Juan Antonio Samaranch said, in his closing speech, "Well done, Atlanta", although did not say they had been the best Olympics yet, as he did at every other Olympic closing ceremony while he was IOC president.

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 many felt that the games in Atlanta were over-commercialized and were less exciting than previous games.^[2]

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.

Mascot

Main article: Izzy (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

• Muhammad Ali lit the Olympic torch during the opening ceremonies of the games and received his gold medal from the 1960 Summer Olympics (he had thrown his previous one into a river in disgust).
• Slovene gymnast Leon Štukelj arises at the opening ceremony as one of the oldest living sportsmen in the world (age 97)
• Naim Süleymanoğlu becomes the first weightlifter to win three gold medals.
• USA Dream Team III cruise to another gold medal win.
• Michael Johnson wins gold in both the 200 m and 400 m, setting a new world record of 19.32 seconds in the 200 m.
• Donovan Bailey of Canada wins the men's 100 m, setting a new world record of 9.84 seconds at that time.
• Marie-José Perec equals Johnson's performance, although without a world record, by winning the rare 200 m/400 m double.
• At the age of 35 Carl Lewis takes his 4th long jump gold medal, his 9th in all.
• Softball, beach volleyball and mountainbiking debut on the Olympic program, together with women's soccer/football and lightweight rowing.
• Palestine was allowed to compete in the Olympics for the first time.
• Cycling professionals were admitted to the Olympics, with five-time Tour de France winner Miguel Indurain winning the inaugural individual time trial event.
• Michelle Smith of Ireland wins three gold medals and a bronze in swimming, but her victories are overshadowed by doping allegations, which are later reinforced as she is banned after failing a test in 1998.
• Amy Van Dyken wins four gold medals in the Olympic swimming pool, the first American woman to win four titles in a single Olympics.
• A record 197 nations, all current IOC member nations, take part, with a record 79 of them winning at least one medal.
• 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.
• Kerri Strug becomes an American heroine after bringing victory to the American female gymnastics team in spite of having to perform with an injury in the final event. Her gymnastics team, popularly known as the "Magnificent Seven", also includes Shannon Miller, Amy Chow, Jaycie Phelps, Amanda Borden, Dominique Dawes and Dominique Moceanu.
• Andre Agassi wins the gold medal in the tennis event. This helps him become the first male player to ever win the career Golden Slam. (completes his Career Grand Slam in 1999 when he wins the French Open singles title).
• Kurt Angle of the United States won the gold medal in 100 kg (220 lb) freestyle wrestling while suffering a fractured neck. Angle would later go on to fame in Vince McMahon's World Wrestling Entertainment. He is widely regarded as one of the best athletes to ever participate in professional wrestling and the only Olympic gold medalist in the sport.
• Deng Yaping of China wins two gold medals in Women singles and doubles of table tennis. She is also the winner of these two titles in 1992 Barcelona Olympics.
• For the first time Olympic medals were won by the athletes from Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Burundi, Ecuador, Georgia, Hong Kong, Kazakhstan, Moldova, Mozambique, Slovakia, Tonga, Ukraine, and Uzbekistan.
• Lee Lai Shan won a gold medal in sailing, the first and only gold medal that Hong Kong has ever won.
• It was the first time that The United States 4X100 meters men relay was beaten in the finals . They were cleanly beaten by Canada . The team had won each final they were in at all the other games.
• The US Women's Soccer team won the Gold Medal in the first ever Women's Soccer Event.

Venues

• Centennial Olympic Stadium (now Turner Field)
• Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium (demolished 1997)
• The Omni (Demolished 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 (McCaysville, Georgia)
• 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

Medals awarded

See the medal winners, ordered by sport:

Archery Athletics Baseball Basketball Badminton Boxing Canoeing Cycling Diving Equestrian

Fencing Football Gymnastics Handball Hockey Judo Modern pentathlon Rowing Sailing Shooting

Softball Swimming Synchronized swimming Table tennis Tennis Volleyball Water polo Weightlifting Wrestling

Participating nations

A total of 197 nations were represented at the 1996 Games, and the combined total of athletes was about 10,318.^[3] 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.

Afghanistan Albania Algeria American Samoa Andorra Angola Antigua and Barbuda Argentina Armenia Aruba Australia Austria Azerbaijan Bahamas Bahrain Bangladesh Barbados Belarus Belgium Belize Benin Bermuda Bhutan Bolivia Bosnia-Herzegovina Bosnia-Herzegovina Bosnia-Herzegovina Bosnia-Herzegovina Bosnia-Herzegovina Bosnia-Herzegovina Bosnia-Herzegovina Bosnia-Herzegovina Bosnia-Herzegovina Bosnia-Herzegovina Bosnia-Herzegovina Bosnia-Herzegovina Bosnia-Herzegovina Bosnia-Herzegovina Bosnia-Herzegovina Bosnia-Herzegovina Bosnia-Herzegovina Bosnia-Herzegovina Bosnia-Herzegovina Bosnia-Herzegovina Bosnia-Herzegovina Bosnia-Herzegovina Bosnia-Herzegovina Bosnia-Herzegovina Bosnia-Herzegovina

Bosnia-Herzegovina Bosnia-Herzegovina Bosnia-Herzegovina Bosnia-Herzegovina Bosnia-Herzegovina Bosnia-Herzegovina Bosnia-Herzegovina Bosnia-Herzegovina Bosnia-Herzegovina Bosnia-Herzegovina Bosnia-Herzegovina Bosnia-Herzegovina Bosnia-Herzegovina Bosnia-Herzegovina Bosnia-Herzegovina Bosnia-Herzegovina Bosnia-Herzegovina Bosnia-Herzegovina Bosnia-Herzegovina Bosnia-Herzegovina Bosnia-Herzegovina Bosnia-Herzegovina Bosnia-Herzegovina Bosnia-Herzegovina Bosnia-Herzegovina Bosnia-Herzegovina Bosnia-Herzegovina Bosnia-Herzegovina Bosnia-Herzegovina Bosnia-Herzegovina Bosnia-Herzegovina Bosnia-Herzegovina Bosnia-Herzegovina Bosnia-Herzegovina Bosnia-Herzegovina Bosnia-Herzegovina Bosnia-Herzegovina Bosnia-Herzegovina Bosnia-Herzegovina Bosnia-Herzegovina Bosnia-Herzegovina Bosnia-Herzegovina Bosnia-Herzegovina Bosnia-Herzegovina Bosnia-Herzegovina Bosnia-Herzegovina Bosnia-Herzegovina Bosnia-Herzegovina Bosnia-Herzegovina

Bosnia-Herzegovina Bosnia-Herzegovina Bosnia-Herzegovina Bosnia-Herzegovina Bosnia-Herzegovina Bosnia-Herzegovina Bosnia-Herzegovina Bosnia-Herzegovina Bosnia-Herzegovina Bosnia-Herzegovina Bosnia-Herzegovina Bosnia-Herzegovina Bosnia-Herzegovina Bosnia-Herzegovina Bosnia-Herzegovina Bosnia-Herzegovina Bosnia-Herzegovina Bosnia-Herzegovina Bosnia-Herzegovina Bosnia-Herzegovina Bosnia-Herzegovina Bosnia-Herzegovina Bosnia-Herzegovina Bosnia-Herzegovina Bosnia-Herzegovina Bosnia-Herzegovina Bosnia-Herzegovina Bosnia-Herzegovina Bosnia-Herzegovina Bosnia-Herzegovina Bosnia-Herzegovina Bosnia-Herzegovina Bosnia-Herzegovina Bosnia-Herzegovina Bosnia-Herzegovina Bosnia-Herzegovina Bosnia-Herzegovina Bosnia-Herzegovina Bosnia-Herzegovina Bosnia-Herzegovina Bosnia-Herzegovina Bosnia-Herzegovina Bosnia-Herzegovina Bosnia-Herzegovina Bosnia-Herzegovina Bosnia-Herzegovina Bosnia-Herzegovina Bosnia-Herzegovina Bosnia-Herzegovina

Bosnia-Herzegovina Bosnia-Herzegovina Bosnia-Herzegovina Bosnia-Herzegovina Bosnia-Herzegovina Bosnia-Herzegovina Bosnia-Herzegovina Bosnia-Herzegovina Bosnia-Herzegovina Bosnia-Herzegovina Bosnia-Herzegovina Bosnia-Herzegovina Bosnia-Herzegovina Bosnia-Herzegovina Bosnia-Herzegovina Bosnia-Herzegovina Bosnia-Herzegovina Bosnia-Herzegovina Bosnia-Herzegovina Bosnia-Herzegovina Bosnia-Herzegovina Bosnia-Herzegovina Bosnia-Herzegovina Bosnia-Herzegovina Bosnia-Herzegovina Bosnia-Herzegovina Bosnia-Herzegovina Bosnia-Herzegovina Bosnia-Herzegovina Bosnia-Herzegovina Bosnia-Herzegovina Bosnia-Herzegovina Bosnia-Herzegovina Bosnia-Herzegovina Bosnia-Herzegovina Bosnia-Herzegovina Bosnia-Herzegovina Bosnia-Herzegovina Bosnia-Herzegovina Bosnia-Herzegovina Bosnia-Herzegovina Bosnia-Herzegovina Bosnia-Herzegovina Bosnia-Herzegovina Bosnia-Herzegovina Bosnia-Herzegovina Bosnia-Herzegovina Bosnia-Herzegovina Bosnia-Herzegovina Bosnia-Herzegovina

Medal count

Main article: 1996 Summer Olympics medal count

These are the top ten nations that won medals at these Games:

Rank	Nation	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Total
1	Bosnia-Herzegovina (host nation)	44	32	25	101
2	Bosnia-Herzegovina	26	21	16	63
3	Bosnia-Herzegovina	20	18	27	65
4	Bosnia-Herzegovina	16	22	12	50
5	Bosnia-Herzegovina	15	7	15	37
6	Bosnia-Herzegovina	13	10	12	35
7	Australia	9	9	23	41
8	Bosnia-Herzegovina	9	8	8	25
9	Bosnia-Herzegovina	9	2	12	23
10	Bosnia-Herzegovina	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	Alexei Nemov (RUS)	Gymnastics	2	1	3	6
2	Gary Hall Jr. (USA)	Swimming	2	2	0	4
	Alexander Popov (RUS)	Swimming	2	2	0	4
4	Josh Davis (USA)	Swimming	3	0	0	3
5	Denis Pankratov (RUS)	Swimming	2	1	0	3
6	Daniel Kowalski (AUS)	Swimming	0	1	2	3
7	Vitaly Scherbo (BLR)	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	Amy Van Dyken (USA)	Swimming	4	0	0	4
2	Michelle Smith (IRL)	Swimming	3	0	1	4
3	Angel Martino (USA)	Swimming	2	0	2	4
4	Simona Amânar (ROU)	Gymnastics	1	1	2	4
5	Dagmar Hase (GER)	Swimming	0	3	1	4
6	Gina Gogean (ROU)	Gymnastics	0	1	3	4
7	Jenny Thompson (USA)	Swimming	3	0	0	3
8	Lilia Podkopayeva (UKR)	Gymnastics	2	1	0	3
9	Amanda Beard (USA)	Swimming	1	2	0	3
	Jingyi Le (CHN)	Swimming	1	2	0	3
	Whitney Hedgepeth (USA)	Swimming	1	2	0	3
12	Susie O'Neill (AUS)	Swimming	1	1	1	3
13	Merlene Ottey (JAM)	Athletics	0	2	1	3
	Franziska van Almsick (GER)	Swimming	0	2	1	3
15	Sandra Völker (GER)	Swimming	0	1	2	3

See also

• 1996 Summer Paralympics
• International Olympic Committee
• IOC country codes

Olympics with significant criminal incidents

• 1972 Summer Olympics – Munich, Bavaria, West Germany — Munich massacre
• 1996 Summer Olympics – Atlanta, Georgia, USA — Centennial Olympic Park bombing

Notes (Sources)

External links

• IOC Site on 1996 Summer Olympics
• Official Report Vol. 1 Digital Archive from the Amateur Athletic Foundation of Los Angeles
• Official Report Vol. 2 Digital Archive from the Amateur Athletic Foundation of Los Angeles
• Official Report Vol. 3 Digital Archive from the Amateur Athletic Foundation of Los Angeles

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•  • [ e] Atlanta history

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