1996 Summer Olympics

Games of the XXVI Olympiad
	Emblem of the 1996 Summer Olympics
Host city	Atlanta, United States
Motto	The Celebration of the Century
Nations	197
Athletes	10,320 (6,797 men, 3,523 women)
Events	271 in 26 sports (37 disciplines)
Opening	July 19, 1996
Closing	August 4, 1996
Opened by	President Bill Clinton
Cauldron	Muhammad Ali
Stadium	Centennial Olympic Stadium
	Summer ← Barcelona 1992 Sydney 2000 → Winter ← Lillehammer 1994 Nagano 1998 → 1996 Summer Paralympics

The 1996 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXVI Olympiad, also known as Atlanta 1996 and commonly referred to as the Centennial Olympic Games)^[2]^[3]^[4] were an international multi-sport event held from July 19 to August 4, 1996, in Atlanta, Georgia, United States. These were the fourth Summer Olympics to be hosted by the United States, and marked the 100th anniversary of the 1896 Summer Olympics in Athens, the inaugural edition of the modern Olympic Games. These were also the first Summer Olympics to be held in a different year than the Winter Olympics since the Winter Olympics commenced in 1924, as part of a new IOC 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 predominantly English-speaking country, preceding the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney, Australia. These were also the last Summer Olympics to be held in North America until 2028, when Los Angeles will host the games for the third time.

10,320 athletes from 197 National Olympic Committees competed in 26 sports, including the Olympic debuts of beach volleyball, mountain biking and softball, as well as the new disciplines of lightweight rowing, women's swimming, women's fencing, team rhythmic gymnastics, and women's association football. A total of 24 countries made their Summer Olympic debuts in Atlanta, including 11 former Soviet republics participating for the first time as independent nations. With a total of 101 medals, the United States topped the medal table 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 of Andre 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 the Golden Slam; Donovan Bailey, who set a new world record of 9.84 for the men's 100 metres; 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 the Magnificent Seven, who dramatically won the first ever U.S. gold medal in the Women's artistic gymnastics team all-around.^[5]

The Games were marred by violence on July 27, 1996, when a pipe bomb was detonated at Centennial 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 was some criticism of the apparent 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's downtown area, and has served as a symbol of the legacy of the 1996 Games; the Olympic Village buildings have since been used as residential housing for area universities; and the Centennial Olympic Stadium has since been redeveloped twice, first as the Turner Field baseball stadium, then as the Center Parc American football stadium.

Bidding process

Atlanta was selected on September 18, 1990, in Tokyo, Japan, over Athens, Belgrade, Manchester, Melbourne, and Toronto at the 96th IOC Session. The city entered the competition as a dark horse, being up against stiff competition.^[6] The US media also criticized Atlanta as a second-tier city and complained of Georgia's Confederate 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 the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, the most recent Olympics in the United States.^[7] Additionally, former US ambassador to the UN and Atlanta mayor Andrew Young touted Atlanta's civil rights history and reputation for racial harmony. Young also wanted to showcase a reformed American 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.^[8] The Atlanta Committee for the Olympic Games (ACOG) also proposed a substantial revenue-sharing with the IOC, USOC, and other NOCs.^[8] Atlanta's main rivals were Toronto, whose front-running bid that began in 1986 had chances to succeed after Canada had held a successful 1988 Winter Olympics in Calgary, and Melbourne, Australia, who hosted the 1956 Summer Olympics and after Brisbane, Australia's failed bid for the 1992 games (which were awarded to Barcelona) and prior to Sydney, Australia's successful 2000 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).^[9]

Greece, the home of the ancient and first modern Olympics, was considered by many observers the "natural choice" for the Centennial Games.^[7]^[8] However, Athens bid chairman Spyros Metaxa demanded that it be named as the site of the Olympics because of its "historical right due to its history", which may have caused resentment among delegates. Furthermore, 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".^[7]^[10]^[11] Athens would later be selected to host the 2004 Summer Olympics seven years later on September 5, 1997.

1996 Summer Olympics bidding results^[12]
City	NOC Name	Round 1	Round 2	Round 3	Round 4	Round 5
Atlanta	United States	19	20	26	34	51
Athens	Greece	23	23	26	30	35
Toronto	Canada	14	17	18	22	—
Melbourne	Australia	12	21	16	—	—
Manchester	Great Britain	11	5	—	—	—
Belgrade	SFR Yugoslavia^[13]	7	—	—	—	—

Development and preparation

Budget

The total cost of the 1996 Summer Olympics was estimated to be around US$1.7 billion.^[14] The venues and the Games themselves were funded entirely via private investment,^[15] 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.^[16] $420 million worth of tickets were sold, sale of sponsorship rights accounted for $540 million, and sale of the domestic broadcast rights to NBC accounted for $456 million. In total, the Games turned a profit of $19 million.^[17]^[14]

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 (the most expensive Olympics in history). The average cost for the Summer Games since 1960 is $5.2 billion. Unlike Atlanta 1996, Beijing and Sochi were primarily funded by their respective governments.^[18]

Venues and infrastructure

Events of the 1996 Games were held in a variety of areas. A number were held within the Olympic Ring, a 3 mi (4.8 km) circle from the center of Atlanta. Others were held at Stone Mountain, about 20 miles (32 km) outside of the city. To broaden ticket sales, other events, such as Association football (soccer), were staged in various cities in the Southeast.^[19]^[20]

Alexander Memorial Coliseum – Boxing
Atlanta–Fulton County Stadium – Baseball
Centennial Olympic Stadium – Opening/Closing Ceremonies, Athletics
Clayton County International Park (Jonesboro, Georgia) – Beach Volleyball
Forbes Arena – Basketball
Georgia Dome – Basketball (final), Gymnastics (artistic), Handball (men's final)
Georgia International Horse Park (Conyers, Georgia) – Cycling (mountain), Equestrian, Modern pentathlon (riding, running)
Georgia State University Sports Arena – Badminton
Georgia Tech Aquatic Center – Diving, Modern pentathlon (swimming), Swimming, Synchronized Swimming, Water Polo
Georgia World Congress Center – Fencing, Handball, Judo, Modern pentathlon (fencing, shooting), Table Tennis, Weightlifting, Wrestling
Golden Park (Columbus, Georgia) – Softball
Herndon Stadium – Field hockey (final)
Lake Lanier (Gainesville, Georgia) – Canoeing (sprint), Rowing
Legion Field (Birmingham, Alabama) – Football
Miami Orange Bowl (Miami, Florida) – Football
Omni Coliseum – Volleyball (indoor final)
Ocoee Whitewater Center (Polk County, Tennessee) – Canoeing (slalom)
Panther Stadium – Field hockey
RFK Stadium (Washington, D.C.) – Football
Stone Mountain Tennis Center (Stone Mountain, Georgia) – Tennis
Stone Mountain Park Archery Center (Stone Mountain, Georgia) – Archery
Stone Mountain Park Velodrome (Stone Mountain, Georgia) – Cycling (track)
Sanford Stadium (Athens, Georgia) at the University of Georgia – Football (final)
Stegeman Coliseum (Athens, Georgia) at the University of Georgia – Gymnastics (rhythmic), Volleyball (indoor)
Wassaw Sound (Savannah, Georgia) – Sailing
Wolf Creek Shooting Complex – Shooting

Marketing

The Olympiad's official theme, "Summon the Heroes", was written by John Williams, making it the third Olympiad at that point for which he had composed (official composer in 1984, NBC's coverage composer in 1988). The opening ceremony featured Céline Dion singing "The Power of the Dream", the theme song of the 1996 Olympics. The closing ceremony featured Gloria Estefan singing "Reach", the official theme song of the 1996 Olympics. 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, fantasy figure. A video game featuring the Games' mascot, Izzy's Quest for the Olympic Rings, was also released.^[21]

Atlanta's Olympic slogan "Come Celebrate Our Dream" was written by Jack Arogeti, a Managing Director at McCann-Erickson in Atlanta at the time. The slogan was selected from more than 5,000^[22] 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."^[23]

The city of Savannah, 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 musician Trisha Yearwood).^[24]

In 1994, African-American artist Kevin Cole was commissioned to create the Coca-Cola Centennial Olympic Mural, and the 15-story mural took two years to complete.^[25]

Calendar

All times are in Eastern Daylight Time (UTC-4); the other, Birmingham, Alabama, uses Central Daylight Time (UTC-5)

OC	Opening ceremony	●	Event competitions	1	Gold medal events	CC	Closing ceremony

July/August 1996		July													August				Events
July/August 1996		19th Fri	20th Sat	21st Sun	22nd Mon	23rd Tue	24th Wed	25th Thu	26th Fri	27th Sat	28th Sun	29th Mon	30th Tue	31st Wed	1st Thu	2nd Fri	3rd Sat	4th Sun	Events
Ceremonies		OC																CC	—
Aquatics	Diving								●	1	●	1	●	1	●	1			37
	Swimming		4	4	5	5	4	5	5
	Synchronized swimming												●			1
	Water polo		●	●	●	●	●		●	●	1
Archery											●	●	●	1	1	2			4
Athletics									2	4	5	8		5	4	6	9	1	44
Badminton							●	●	●	●	●	●	●	2	3				5
Baseball/Softball
	Baseball		●	●	●	●	●	●		●	●	●	●		●	1			2
	Softball			●	●	●	●	●	●	●	Zdroj:https://en.wikipedia.org?pojem=1996_Summer_Olympics Text je dostupný za podmienok Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License 3.0 Unported; prípadne za ďalších podmienok. Podrobnejšie informácie nájdete na stránke Podmienky použitia. Navigácia: Veda > Analytika Antropológia Aplikované vedy Bibliometria Dejiny vedy Encyklopédie Filozofia vedy Forenzné vedy Humanitné vedy Knižničná veda Kryogenika Kryptológia Kulturológia Literárna veda Medzidisciplinárne oblasti Metódy kvantitatívnej analýzy Metavedy Metodika Metodológia vedy Náboženstvo a veda Náučná literatúra Podvody vo vede Popularizácia vedy Potravinárstvo Prírodné vedy Pseudoveda Scientometria Spoločenské vedy Teórie Teatrológia Technické vedy Technika Terminológia Umenie Výskum Veda Veda a technika podľa štátu Veda a technika podľa kontinentu Veda a technika podľa roka Veda v kozme Vedci Vedecká literatúra Vedecké databázy Vedecké experimenty Vedecké konferencie Vedecké metódy Vedecké ocenenia Vedecké organizácie Vedecké parky Vedeckí spisovatelia Vzdelávanie Záhady Príbuzné výrazy: Text je dostupný za podmienok Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License 3.0 Unported; prípadne za ďalších podmienok. Podrobnejšie informácie nájdete na stránke Podmienky použitia. www.astronomia.sk \| www.biologia.sk \| www.botanika.sk \| www.dejiny.sk \| www.economy.sk \| www.elektrotechnika.sk \| www.estetika.sk \| www.farmakologia.sk \| www.filozofia.sk \| Fyzika \| www.futurologia.sk \| www.genetika.sk \| www.chemia.sk \| www.lingvistika.sk \| www.politologia.sk \| www.psychologia.sk \| www.sexuologia.sk \| www.sociologia.sk \| www.veda.sk I www.zoologia.sk								2

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