Centennial Olympic Games

▪ 1997

by Melinda C. Shepherd

      From July 19 to Aug. 4, 1996, the city of Atlanta, Ga., welcomed the world to join it in celebrating the XXVI Olympiad, 100 years after the first modern Olympic Games in Athens in 1896. For the first time every invited National Olympic Committee (a total of 197) sent a team, including each of the former Soviet republics, Burundi, North Korea, Palestine, and Hong Kong, which won its first (and last) gold medal before its reunification with China in 1997. More than 10,700 accredited athletes (about one-third women) competed in 271 medal events (163 for men, 97 for women, and 11 mixed), and a record 79 teams won at least one medal, with 53 of them taking at least one gold (5 for the first time). New sports added to the schedule in Atlanta included women's association football (soccer), beach volleyball, lightweight rowing events, women's softball, and cross country cycling (mountain biking).

      As the first city to act as host of the Olympic Games without government financial backing, Atlanta faced special challenges. The Atlanta Committee for the Olympic Games (ACOG) was roundly criticized for the Games' problems, notably the inadequate transportation system, delays due to the tight security precautions, and computer glitches in the electronic transmission of scores. There were also questions about excessive commercialization and "chauvinism" among the U.S. spectators and the U.S. network television coverage. Although Billy Payne, head of ACOG and the chief force behind the city's successful bid, declared that the Games would break even or make a small profit, the experiment of a privately funded Olympics was unlikely to be repeated.

      These problems failed to dampen the city's Southern hospitality, however, or ruin more than one million visitors' fun. The revelry was temporarily halted on July 27, however, when an unknown person set off a pipe bomb in Centennial Olympic Park. (See Crime (Law, Crime, and Law Enforcement ).) One bystander was killed in the explosion, and a photojournalist died of heart failure in the ensuing rush, but within days the park reopened in a memorial service attended by hundreds.

      Among the outstanding athletes at the Games were several former gold medal winners, notably Carl Lewis of the U.S., who won his ninth gold in track; British rower Steven Redgrave (see BIOGRAPHIES (Redgrave, Steven Geoffrey )), who took his fourth gold in four consecutive Olympics; and 17-year-old Fu Mingxia (see BIOGRAPHIES (Fu Mingxia )) of China, winner of the platform diving competition in 1992 and both the platform and the springboard events in 1996. Although U.S. sprinter Michael Johnson's gold running shoes and bravura victories in the 200 m and 400 m captured the world's attention, his golden double was matched by two women runners, Marie-José Perec (see BIOGRAPHIES (Perec, Marie-Jose )) of France in the 200 m and 400 m and Svetlana Masterkova of Russia in the 800 m and 1,500 m. The highest individual medal total in Atlanta (6) went to Russian gymnast Aleksey Nemov. The focus poolside was mainly on Michelle Smith (see BIOGRAPHIES (Smith, Michelle )) of Ireland, who won three golds and a bronze in swimming, despite being compelled to leave Ireland to find adequate training facilities, questions over entry procedures, and strain caused by unsubstantiated rumours of illegal drug use.

Melinda C. Shepherd is associate editor of Encyclopædia Britannica Yearbooks.

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