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 Interna-
tional 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 Olym-
pic Games. Several other cities had submitted pro-
posals to host the Games, including Athens, Bel-
grade, 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 se-
lected 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 Sum-
mer Olympics took place in the host
city, Atlanta. The opening cere-
mony 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 Olym-
pic torch. The Games were presided
over by IOC president Juan Antonio
Samaranch.
The 1996 Games were not bur-
dened with the political and eco-
nomic 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 Centen-
nial Olympic Park exploded during
a concert, killing one spectator and
wounding 111.
Economics of the Games In fund-
ing the $1.8 billion Games, which
were the most expensive to date,
Atlanta received considerable con-
tributions 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 in-
cluded revitalizing the downtown area with hotel ex-
pansion, addition of new restaurants and businesses,
and $500 million to construct new athletic facilities
and improve existing facilities. More than two mil-
lion 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 theThe Nineties in America Olympic Games of 1996 643
Carl Lewis jumps just over eight meters on June 17, 1996, at the Olympic track trials in
Atlanta. He later won the gold in the long jump.(AP/Wide World Photos)