The1996 Summer Olympics (officially theGames of the XXVI Olympiad, also known asAtlanta 1996 and commonly referred to as theCentennial Olympic Games)[3][4][5] were an internationalmulti-sport event held from July 19 to August 4, 1996, inAtlanta, Georgia, United States. These were the fourthSummer Olympics to be hosted by the United States, making it the first country to have three different cities host the Summer Olympics.[6] It also marked the 100th anniversary of the1896 Summer Olympics in Athens, the inaugural edition of the modernOlympic Games. These were also the first Summer Olympics to be held in a different year than theWinter Olympics since the same time practice commenced in 1924, as part of a newIOC practice implemented in 1994 to hold the Summer and Winter Games in alternating, even-numbered years. The 1996 Games were the first of the two consecutive Summer Olympics to be held in a predominantlyEnglish-speaking country, preceding the2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney, Australia. These were also the last Summer Olympics to be held in North America until2028, whenLos Angeles will host the games for the third time, and that will also mark the second time the United States hosts the Summer Olympics before Australia does with how theBrisbane 2032 games will come after Los Angeles 2028.
10,318 athletes from 197National Olympic Committees competed in 26 sports, including the Olympic debuts ofbeach volleyball,mountain biking andsoftball, as well as the new disciplines oflightweight rowing, women's swimming4 x 200 freestyle relay, women'sfencing, teamrhythmic gymnastics, and women'sassociation football. A total of 24 countries made their Summer Olympic debuts in Atlanta, including 11 formerSoviet republics participating for the first time as independent nations. With a total of 101 medals, theUnited States topped both the gold and overallmedal count for the first time since 1984 (and for the first time since 1968 in a non-boycotted Summer Olympics), also winning the most gold (44) and silver (32) medals out of all the participating nations. Notable performances during the competition included those ofAndre Agassi, whose gold medal in these Games would be followed up with the French Open title in 1999, making him the first men's singles tennis player to complete theGolden Slam;Donovan Bailey, who set a new world record of 9.84 for themen's 100 meters;Lilia Podkopayeva, who became the second gymnast to win an individual event gold medal after winning the all-around title in the same Olympics; and theMagnificent Seven, who dramatically won the first ever U.S. gold medal in thewomen's artistic gymnastics team all-around.[7]
The Games were marred by violence on July 27, 1996, whena pipe bomb was detonated atCentennial Olympic Park (which had been built to serve as a public focal point for the festivities), killing two and injuring 111. Years later,Eric Rudolph confessed to the bombing and a series of related terrorist attacks, and was sentenced to life in prison. Nonetheless, the 1996 Olympics turned a profit, helped by record revenue from sponsorship deals and broadcast rights, and a reliance on private funding, among other factors. There were 8.3 million tickets sold for events at this Olympics, a record broken only in 2024. There was some criticism of the perceived over-commercialization of the Games, with other issues raised by European officials, such as the availability of food and transport. The event had a lasting impact on the city; Centennial Olympic Park led a revitalization of Atlanta'sdowntown area, and has served as a symbol of the legacy of the 1996 Games; theOlympic Village buildings have since been used as residential housing for area universities; andCentennial Olympic Stadium has since been redeveloped twice, first as theTurner Field baseball stadium, then as theCenter ParcAmerican football stadium.
Atlanta was selected on September 18, 1990, inTokyo, Japan, over Athens, Belgrade, Manchester, Melbourne, and Toronto at the96th IOC Session. The city entered the competition as adark horse, being up against stiff competition.[8] The US media also criticized Atlanta as a second-tier city and complained ofGeorgia'sConfederate history. However, the IOC Evaluation Commission ranked Atlanta's infrastructure and facilities the highest, while IOC members said that it could guarantee large television revenues similar to the success of the1984 Summer Olympics inLos Angeles, the most recent Olympics in the United States.[9] Additionally, former US ambassador to the UN and Atlanta mayorAndrew Young touted Atlanta's civil rights history and reputation for racial harmony. Young also wanted to showcase a reformedAmerican South. The strong economy of Atlanta and improved race relations in the South helped to impress the IOC officials.Coca-Cola, a long-standing partner of the Olympics, was also a strong advocate to bring the Games to its hometown.[10] The Atlanta Committee for the Olympic Games (ACOG) also proposed a substantial revenue-sharing with the IOC, USOC, and other NOCs.[10] Atlanta's main rivals were Toronto, whose front-running bid that began in 1986 had chances to succeed after Canada had held a successful1988 Winter Olympics in Calgary, and Melbourne, Australia, who hosted the1956 Summer Olympics and afterBrisbane, Australia's failed bid for the 1992 games (which were awarded toBarcelona) and prior toSydney, Australia's successful2000 Summer Olympics bid. This would be Toronto's fourth failed attempt since 1960 (tried in 1960, 1964, and 1976, but was defeated by Rome, Tokyo and Montreal).[11]
Greece, the home of theancient andfirst modern Olympics, was considered by many observers the "natural choice" for the Centennial Games,[9][10] due to its "divine right" in history.[12] Athens bid chairman Spyros Metaxas gave repeated warnings to the IOC and demanded to give them the games to mark the centennial, saying "You don't hold a 100th birthday in someone else's home. The Centenary Games should be held in Athens."[12] He also warned that "if we don't get the Olympics in 1996 we will never bid again to host them."[13]
However, the Athens bid was described as "arrogant and poorly prepared," being regarded as "not being up to the task of coping with the modern and risk-prone extravaganza" of the current Games. Athens faced numerous obstacles, including "political instability, potential security problems, air pollution, traffic congestion and the fact that it would have to spend about US$3 billion to improve its infrastructure of airports, roads, rail lines and other amenities."[9][14][15] Athens would later be selected to host the2004 Summer Olympics seven years later on September 5, 1997.[16]
The total cost of the 1996 Summer Olympics was estimated to be around US$1.7 billion.[19] The venues and the Games themselves were funded entirely via private investment,[20] and the only public funding came from the U.S. government for security, and around $500 million of public money used on physical public infrastructure including streetscaping, road improvements, Centennial Olympic Park (alongside $75 million in private funding), expansion of the airport, improvements in public transportation, and redevelopment of public housing projects.[21] $420 million worth of tickets were sold, sale of sponsorship rights accounted for $540 million, and sale of the domestic broadcast rights toNBC accounted for $456 million. In total, the Games turned a profit of $19 million.[22][19]
The cost for Atlanta 1996 compares with costs of $4.6 billion for Rio 2016, $40–44 billion for Beijing 2008, and $51 billion for Sochi 2014 Winter Olympics (the most expensive Olympic Games without differentiating between summer and winter in history). The average cost for the Summer Games since 1960 is $5.2 billion. Using the1984 Summer Olympics financing model, this edition was organized 100% privately without any cent of public money. Beijing 2008 and Sochi 2014 were financed entirely by the governments of their respective countries.[23]
Events of the 1996 Games were held in a completely decentralized way using mostly existing facilities that were not built for the Games.Most of the events were held in the so-called Olympic Ring, a 3 mi (4.8 km) circle from the center of Atlanta. Others were held atStone Mountain, about 20 miles (32 km) outside of the city. In many cases, it was decided to remove events from the Atlanta Metropolitan Region to save money, while in others the calendar was a difficulty, as was the case withassociation football which ended up having its host cities spread across theSoutheastern United States region.[24][25]
The Olympiad's official theme, "Summon the Heroes", was written byJohn Williams, making it the third Olympiad at that point for which he had composed (official composer in 1984, NBC's coverage composer in 1988). Theopening ceremony featuredCéline Dion singing "The Power of the Dream", the theme song of the 1996 Olympics. Theclosing ceremony featuredGloria Estefan singing "Reach", the official theme song of the 1996 Olympics. Themascot for the Olympiad was an abstract, animated character namedIzzy. In contrast to the standing tradition of mascots of national or regional significance in the city hosting the Olympiad, Izzy was an amorphous, fantasy figure. A video game featuring the Games' mascot,Izzy's Quest for the Olympic Rings, was also released.[26]
Atlanta's Olympic slogan "Come Celebrate Our Dream" was written by Jack Arogeti, a managing director atMcCann-Erickson in Atlanta at the time. The slogan was selected from more than 5,000[27] submitted by the public to the Atlanta Convention and Visitors Bureau.Billy Payne noted that Jack "captured the spirit and our true motivation for the Olympic games."[28]
The city ofSavannah, Georgia, host of the yachting events, held its own local festivities, including a local cauldron lighting event on the first day of the Games (headlined by a performance by country musicianTrisha Yearwood).[29]
In 1994, African-American artistKevin Cole was commissioned to create the Coca-Cola Centennial Olympic Mural, and the 15-story mural took two years to complete.[30]
There was a showcase entitled "Welcome To The World", featuringcheerleaders,Chevroletpick-up trucks,marching bands, andsteppers, which highlighted the American youth and a typical Saturday college football game in the South, including thewave commonly produced by spectators in sporting events around the world. There was another showcase entitled "Summertime" which focused on Atlanta and theOld South, emphasizing its beauty, spirit, music, history, culture, and rebirth after theAmerican Civil War. The ceremony also featured a memorable dance tribute to the athletes and to the goddesses of victory of the ancient Greek Olympics, using silhouette imagery. The accompanying music, "The Tradition of the Games", was composed byBasil Poledouris.[31]
Muhammad Ali lit theOlympic cauldron and later received a replacement gold medal for his boxing victory in the1960 Summer Olympics. For the torch ceremony, more than 10,000Olympic torches were manufactured by the American Meter Company and electroplated byErie Plating Company. Each torch weighed about 3.5 pounds (1.6 kg) and was made primarily of aluminum, with a Georgiapecan wood handle and gold ornamentation.[32][33]
In women's gymnastics, UkrainianLilia Podkopayeva became the all-around Olympic champion. Podkopayeva also won a second gold medal in the floor exercise final and a silver on the beam – becoming the only female gymnast sinceNadia Comăneci to win an individual event gold after winning the all-around title in the same Olympics.Kerri Strug of the United States women's gymnastics team vaulted with an injured ankle and landed on one foot, winning the first women's team gold medal for the US.Shannon Miller won the gold medal on the balance beam event, the first time an American gymnast had won an individual gold medal in non-boycotted Olympic games. The Spanish team won the first gold medal in the new competition ofwomen's rhythmic group all-around. The team was formed byEstela Giménez,Marta Baldó,Nuria Cabanillas,Lorena Guréndez,Estíbaliz Martínez andTania Lamarca.
Amy Van Dyken won four gold medals in the Olympicswimming pool, the first American woman to win four titles in a single Olympiad.Penny Heyns, swimmer of South Africa, won the gold medals in both the 100-meter and 200-meter breaststroke events.Michelle Smith of Ireland won three gold medals and a bronze in swimming. She remains her nation's most decorated Olympian. However, her victories were overshadowed bydoping allegations even though she did not test positive in 1996. She received a four-year suspension in 1998 for tampering with a urine sample, though her medals and records were allowed to stand.[34][35]
Women's 100 m hurdles at the Olympic stadium
In track and field,Donovan Bailey of Canada won the men's 100 m, setting a new world record of 9.84 seconds at that time.[36] He also anchored his team's gold in the4 × 100 m relay.Michael Johnson won gold in both the 200 m and 400 m, setting a new world record of 19.32 seconds in the 200 m.Marie-José Pérec equaled Johnson's performance, although without a world record, by winning the rare 200 m/400 m double.Carl Lewis won his 4th long jump gold medal at the age of 35.
In tennis,Andre Agassi won the gold medal, which would eventually make him the first man and second singles player overall (after his eventual wife,Steffi Graf) to win the careerGolden Slam, which consists of an Olympic gold medal and victories in the singles tournaments held at professional tennis' four major events (Australian Open,French Open,Wimbledon, andUS Open).
The Olympic flag waves at the 1996 Games
There were a series of national firsts realized during the Games.Deon Hemmings became the first woman to win an Olympic gold medal forJamaica and the English-speakingWest Indies.Lee Lai Shan won a gold medal in sailing, the only Olympic medal thatHong Kong ever won as a British colony (1842–1997). This meant that for the only time, the colonial flag of Hong Kong was raised to the accompaniment of the British national anthem "God Save the Queen", as Hong Kong'ssovereignty was later transferred to China in 1997. The U.S. women's soccer team won the gold medal in the first-ever women's football event. For the first time, Olympic medals were won by athletes fromArmenia,Azerbaijan,Belarus,Burundi,Czech Republic,Ecuador,Georgia,Hong Kong,Kazakhstan,Moldova,Mozambique,Slovakia,Tonga,Ukraine, andUzbekistan. Another first in Atlanta was that this was the first Summer Olympics ever that not a single nation swept all three medals in a single event.[citation needed]
Yellow circle is host city (Atlanta)Number of athletes
A total of 197 nations, all of the then-existing and recognized National Olympic Committees, were represented at the 1996 Games, and the combined total of athletes was about 10,318.[37] Twenty-four countries made their Olympic debut this year, including eleven of the ex-Soviet countries that competed as part of theUnified Team in 1992.Russia participated in the Summer Olympics separately from the other countries of the formerSoviet Union for the first time since 1912 (when it was theRussian Empire). Russia had been a member of theUnified Team at the 1992 Summer Olympics together with 11 post-Soviet states. TheFederal Republic of Yugoslavia competed asYugoslavia. After missing the 1992 Summer GamesAfghanistan andCambodia returned to send delegations to Atlanta.
The marker at the entrance to Centennial Park in downtown Atlanta
The 1996 Olympics were marred by theCentennial Olympic Park bombing, which occurred on July 27. Security guardRichard Jewell discovered the pipe bomb and immediately notified law enforcement, helping to evacuate as many people as possible from the area before it exploded. Although Jewell's quick actions are credited for saving many lives, the bombing killed spectator Alice Hawthorne, wounded 111 others, and caused the death of Melih Uzunyol by a heart attack. Jewell was later considered a suspect in the bombing but was never charged, and he was cleared in October 1996.
FugitiveEric Rudolph was arrested in May 2003 and charged with the Olympic Park bombing as well as the bombings of twoabortion clinics and agay nightclub.[38] At his trial two years later, he confessed to all charges and afterwards released a statement, saying: "the purpose of the attack on July 27th was to confound, anger and embarrass the Washington government in the eyes of the world for its abominable sanctioning of abortion on demand."[39] He received fourlife sentences withoutparole,[38] to be served atUSP Florence ADMAX nearFlorence, Colorado.
The 1996 Olympic cauldron, designed bySiah ArmajaniThe Flair Monument, erected in remembrance of the 1996 Games
Preparations for the Olympics lasted more than seven years and had an economic impact of at least US$5.14 billion. Over two million visitors came to Atlanta, and approximately 3.5 billion people around the world watched at least some of the events on television. Although marred by the tragedy of theCentennial Olympic Park bombing, the Games were a financial success, due in part to TV rights contracts and sponsorships at record levels.[40] Atlanta also set a new record for the most tickets sold at a single Games (8.3 million), and held it until 2024.[41]
Beyond international recognition, the Games resulted in many modern infrastructure improvements. The mid-rise dormitories built for the Olympic Village, which became the first residential housing forGeorgia State University (Georgia State Village), are now used by theGeorgia Institute of Technology (North Avenue Apartments). As designed, the Centennial Olympic Stadium was converted intoTurner Field after the Paralympics, which became the home of theAtlanta BravesMajor League Baseball team from 1997 to 2016. The Braves' former home,Atlanta–Fulton County Stadium, was demolished in 1997 and the site became a parking lot for Turner Field; theOmni Coliseum was demolished the same year to make way forState Farm Arena. The city's permanent memorial to the 1996 Olympics isCentennial Olympic Park, which was built as a focal point for the Games. The park initiated a revitalization of the surrounding area and now serves as the hub for Atlanta's tourism district.[40]
In November 2016, acommemorative plaque was unveiled for Centennial Olympic Park to honor the 20th anniversary of the Games.[42][43]
Following the Braves' departure from Turner Field toTruist Park in 2017, Georgia State University acquired the former Olympic Stadium and surrounding parking lots. It reconfigured the stadium for a second time intoCenter Parc Stadium for itscollege football team.
The 1996 Olympic cauldron was originally built and placed at the intersection of Fulton Street and Capitol Avenue, near the Centennial Olympic Stadium. After the Paralympics, in order to make room for the stadium conversion, the Olympic cauldron was moved (except its ramp, which was demolished) to the intersection of Capitol Avenue and Fulton Street in 1997, where it has stayed since. Since Georgia State University's acquisition of the former Olympic Stadium and surrounding lots, there has been proposals and growing calls to move the Olympic cauldron toCentennial Olympic Park.[44][45][46]
The Olympic cauldron was re-lit in February 2020 for the 2020 U.S. Olympic Marathon Trials.[47]
The 1996 Olympics are the most recent edition of the Summer Olympics to be held in the United States.Los Angeles will host the2028 Summer Olympics, 32 years after the Games were held in Atlanta.[48]
The Games were affected by several instances ofambush marketing—in which companies attempt to use the Games as a means to promote their brand, in competition with the exclusive, category-based sponsorship rights issued by the Atlanta organizing committee and the IOC (which grants the rights to use Olympics-related terms and emblems in marketing). The Atlanta organizing committee threatened legal actions against advertisers whose marketing implied an official association with the Games. Several non-sponsors set up marketing activities in areas near venues, such asSamsung (competing withMotorola), which ambushed the Games with its "96 Expo".[53][54] The city of Atlanta had also licensed street vendors to sell products from competitors to Olympic sponsors.[55][56]
The most controversial ambush campaign was undertaken byNike, Inc., which had begun an advertising campaign with aggressive slogans that mocked the Games' values, such as "Faster, Higher, Stronger, Badder", "If you're not here to win, you're a tourist", and "You don't win silver, you lose gold." The slogans were featured on magazine ads andbillboards it purchased in Atlanta.[53] Nike also opened apop-up store known as the Nike Center near the Athletes' Village, which distributed Nike-branded flags to visitors (presumably to be used at events).[57] IOC marketing directorMichael Payne expressed concern for the campaign, believing that athletes could perceive them as being an insult to their accomplishments.[57] Payne and theUnited States Olympic Committee's marketing director, John Krimsky, met with Howard Slusher, a subordinate of Nike co-founderPhil Knight. The meeting quickly turned aggressive, with Payne warning that the IOC could pull accreditation for Nike employees and ban the display of its logos on equipment; he also threatened to organize a press conference where silver medallists from the Games, as well as prominent Nike-sponsored athleteMichael Johnson (who attracted attention during the Games for wearing custom, gold-colored Nike shoes), would denounce the company. Faced with these threats, Nike agreed to retract most of its negative advertising andpublic relations stunts.[57]
At theclosing ceremony,IOC PresidentJuan Antonio Samaranch said in his closing speech, "Well done, Atlanta" and simply called the Games "most exceptional." This broke precedent for Samaranch, who had traditionally labeled each Games "the best Olympics ever" at each closing ceremony, a practice he resumed at the subsequentWinter Games in Nagano in 1998.[58]
A report prepared after the Games by European Olympic officials was critical of Atlanta's performance in several key areas, including the level of crowding in the Olympic Village, the quality of available food, the accessibility and convenience of transportation, and the Games' general atmosphere of commercialism.[59] IOC vice-presidentDick Pound responded to criticism of the commercialization of these Games, stating that they still adhered to a historic policy barring the display of advertising within venues, and that "you have to look to the private sector for at least a portion of the funding, and unless you're looking for handouts, you're dealing with people who are investing business assets, and they have to get a return."[55]
In 1997,Athens was awarded the2004 Summer Olympics. Along with addressing the shortcomings of its 1996 bid, it was lauded for its efforts to promote the traditional values of the Olympic Games, which some IOC observers felt had been lost due to the over-commercialization of the 1996 Games. However, the 2004 Games heavily relied on public funding and eventually failed to make a profit, which some have claimed contributed to thefinancial crisis in Greece.[60][61][62]
The financial struggles faced by many later Games, such as the2006 Winter Olympics in Turin and the2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, have caused some to offer more positive reappraisals of the management of the 1996 Summer Games. FormerJPMorgan Chase president (and torchbearer)Kabir Sehgal noted that in contrast to many later Olympics, those of 1996 were financially viable, had a positive economic impact on the city, and most of the facilities constructed continued to be used after the Games. Sehgal contrasted the 1996 Games' "grassroots" effort backed almost entirely by private funding, with the only significant public spending coming from infrastructure associated with the Games, to modern "top-down" bids, instigated by local governments and reliant on taxpayer funding, making them unpopular among citizens who may not necessarily be interested.[19] The2028 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles will rely almost entirely on private funding, with the city of Los Angeles and state of California each intending to provide up to $250 million in funding in the event of shortfalls, and the U.S. federal government providing funding solely for security.[63][64][65]
^abcMaloney, Larry (2004)."Atlanta 1996". In Finding, John E.; Pelle, Kimberly D. (eds.).Encyclopedia of the Modern Olympic Movement. Greenwood Publishing Group. pp. 235–6.ISBN9780313322785. RetrievedSeptember 23, 2008.
^"IOC Vote History".www.aldaver.com. Archived from the original on May 25, 2008. RetrievedJune 10, 2008.
^The Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia was still in existence at the time of bidding for the 1996 Olympics, although it would cease to exist by the time of the 1996 Summer Olympic games
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