Talk:1996 Summer Olympics

When did IOC vote for Atlanta?
The article currently states that the IOC voted to select Atlanta as host city in 1997—clearly a mistake. Does anyone know the correct year Atlanta was selected?--TallulahBelle (talk) 15:27, 24 February 2008 (UTC)

Adressing the bribery issue
Verifiable sources need to be found concerning this issue. This CNN/Sports Illustrated article from 1999 (among others) discusses the issue of bribery in the IOC broadly. The issues should be mentioned in the 1996 Summer Olympics bids also. Also interesting is the fact that The Mitchell Commission (which investigated the Salt Lake City bid scandal) was headed by a former U.S. senator, how was this able to happen? Research needs to be done on John Coates & Andrew Young (I'd suggest most people here don't even know who they are, which is unfortunate considering that at the time they exchanged words on several occasions). In the little research I've done thus far, offering foreign aid as an incentive seems to be a reoccuring theme, one example taken from here explains: "Coates said former Atlanta mayor Andrew Young had toured Africa dispensing U.S. foreign aid commitments -- in exchange for support for Atlanta's bid for the 1996 Summer Olympics." I'd suggest that CNN is a verifiable source. Discussion on this issue must continue, and also extended to encompass the broader issue of bribery within the IOC and others, not just the 1996 Summer Olympic bid by Atlanta. Nick carson 05:15, 6 July 2007 (UTC)

Use of Weasel Words
I've tagged this article due to the extensive use of weasel words in the introductory section. I don't have the time to clean it up myself right now, but this section definitely needs attention. Jhortman 14:46, 26 May 2006 (UTC)
 * It'd be helpful if you specified the language you object to. --Isaac R 18:47, 5 July 2006 (UTC)
 * I _think_ he's referring to the "Some felt" and "there were claims" language without references. Rjhatl 12:01, 10 July 2006 (UTC)

Richard Jewell and the bombing
How come the article has no references to Richard Jewell? The guy was a hero. I want to know what happened to him.

The Munich Olympics page talks about the hostage massacre. That was a more serious event than the Atlanta bombing. But this was serious. The article is incomplete without it.

How about you visit www.vietnamcombat.net and look there.

Official song
From the text, it states that Gloria Estefan's "Reach" was the official song. I tought the official song was actually Celine Dion's "The Power of the Dream"?--Huaiwei 16:31, 6 Jun 2005 (UTC)
 * You are correct that "The Power of the Dream" was the official song, though it might be somewhat inaccurate to label it as Celine Dion's song. According to the Olympic Report vol. 1, pages 170 and 361, the official song was "The Power of the Dream", composed by David Foster and Babyface with words by Linda Thompson.  According to the Olympic Report vol. 2, it was performed by Dion accompanied by Foster and the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra. I'll go fix the article now. -- Jonel 19:33, 6 Jun 2005 (UTC)

This is Scott, I edited the page before I realized that there were two official theme songs. One for the opening and one for the closing. Gloria Estefan did the closing, which may be why I remember it as the official theme song. So if you don't get a chance to fix the article, I will fix it later.

I remember differently
From what I remember of the opening ceremony of the Centennial Olympics, the song "Power of the Dream" was performed by an 11 year old girl with a choir of at least a hundred children performing a field routine. I don't recall Celine Dion performing the song during the opening ceremony.

-- The 11 year old girl sang the song during the CLOSING ceremonies. Celine sang the song during the OPENING ceremonies. Itsdannyg 20:03, 26 September 2006 (UTC)

Gloria Estefan
This is still Scott. I would like to see a line included giving Gloria Estefan credit for singing the closing song. How do I go about doing that?

Izzy Wikipage
What about Izzy? He was the mascot that started the 1996 Olympics!

Unsuccessful?
Seems a bit off to refer to the games as "relatively unsuccessful". A reference for this perhaps? The games turned a profit. More than that, they did it despite the bomb and threw some exciting sporting moments and an excellent last day party into the bargain. Isn't that a success? The Athens games helped tip economy of Greece into the red. Money spent on the Olympics by the state is money not spent on hospitals, police, etc. Way I see it, Atlanta could afford more of those things after the Olympics, Athens couldn't. The IOC can complain about commercialization but they're not the ones who have to foot the bill. Phil --82.38.227.22 17:08, 19 December 2005 (UTC)

The 1996 Olympics did not turn a profit, it is well known that the games were a fiasco, although it is widely claimed that the Atlanta games turned a meager 10 million dollar profit (compared with the billion dollar bonanza Sydney earned) that figure does not account for the millions of tax dollars that were poured into the event for infrastructure and transportation and security that was as high as 500 million dollars. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 97.101.77.47 (talk) 01:52, 16 June 2009 (UTC)

Bidding Farse
Bidding for the 1996 Summer Olympic Games was surrounded in farse. Melbourne, Australia was the favourite throughout the entire process, if I remember correctly, construction had already begun on smaller projects to do with the 1996 games and celebrations were ready and waiting as soon as it was to be announced. This wasnt an assumed thing that Melbourne would win the bid, it was relativly sealed after some cities pulled out and other were majorly discredited due to inapropriate infrastructure and other problems etc. I remember when Melbourne didnt win the bid, the reaction was sheer shock and disbelief. I also remember alot of Coke signs in the city of Atlanta throughout the games. I also remember that aparently the IOC admited responsibility to the rediculous winning bid from atlanta and compensated Melbourne by giving Sydney the 2000 Summer Olympic Games. Hmmm interesting, compensating one city by giving it's self proclaimed rival the 2000 games. I think anyone will find with enough research that this is all true and should take up a large section of the article on the 1996 summer olympic games, and deserves its own article. I'm willing to contribute, but I have a feeling there may be Coca-Cola-Wikipedia team hired to vandalise this sort of stuff. Nick carson 02:05, 12 February 2006 (UTC)
 * No offense, but all of that is just wild speculation unless you can come up with some sort of verifiable source other than your own memory which is questionable since you were all of 4 years old at the time the '96 games were awarded (Sep. 1990). I imagine Melbournites were disappointed at not winning the games, but while Athens was most definitely the sentimental favorite by many Olympic followers, it's more than a stretch to say Melbourne was a favorite above Atlanta. It doesn't come close to being supported by the voting since Melbourne didn't have the highest vote total in any round and was eliminated after the 3rd round of voting leaving Atlanta, Athens and Toronto in contention. AU Tiger  ʃ talk /work 07:02, 12 February 2006 (UTC)
 * I think people suspected something odd was going on though when Melbourne got 5 fewer votes in the 3rd round (eliminating it) than in the 2nd round. Why would people vote for a city the first two rounds and then switch? You would expect each city to get more votes in each round since a city is being eliminated each time. Anyway, that fact got some coverage in Australia and made people rather suspect of the entire thing (as history has shown to be true due to the revelation of bribery going on at many such ioc events). —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 203.214.84.132 (talk • contribs).

Muhammed Ali
There is little mention of him in this article even though his lighting of the torch is considered by many to be one of the most emotionally powerful moments in Olympic history. -- §  Hurricane  E  RIC  §Damages archive 02:11, 1 March 2006 (UTC)

Name change
Since the page hasn't event been created yet, this shouldn't be too much of a problem. The IOC chaged the name of Yachting to Sailing AFTER the 1996 Olympics. So, I'm going back and making the appropriate changes to coincide with this decision. This is my reference: http://www.olympic.org/uk/sports/programme/history_uk.asp?DiscCode=SA&sportCode=SA

Incorect Emblem
The listed as the logo of these games is incorect- the real one had a background of green.

Citations Added
I added a bunch of needed citations, and I put the total number of athletes - just throwing that out there.-- DanielFolsom T|C|U 16:00, 1 February 2007 (UTC)

Citations Missing
I also just added a citations missing template - usually I would find something like this myself, but sadly I'm in a rush right now and in the time I'm gone it could probably be fixed - sorry about that. DanielFolsom |\T/|\C/|\U/ 12:26, 20 February 2007 (UTC)

Mascots?
Somebody should add the mascots, most other olympics pages have them. --AW 19:52, 30 May 2007 (UTC)
 * Most of us tried hard to forget Izzy before, during and after the Olympics. Now that you've brought the pain back, I'll see what I can do to add something about him. AU Tiger  ʃ talk /work 21:01, 30 May 2007 (UTC)

Venues
1996 Summer Olympic Venues contains a longer list, and is up for deletion. Any useful information on it ? John Vandenberg 07:54, 3 June 2007 (UTC)

Bosnia's debut....
Happened in the 1992 Olympics in Barcelona. Not 1996. No idea who the 13th country could have been. :) FreshBreeze 01:57, 25 August 2007 (UTC)
 * Thanks, I fixed the article. Andrwsc 02:49, 25 August 2007 (UTC)

Ali's Medal
I am challenging this edit: regarding Muhammad Ali's original gold medal:  (he had thrown his previous one into a river in disgust).

I am pretty certain this is an urban legend, and given its lack of citation makes me think moreso. Later in the games, I think at half time of a basketball game, Ali was re-awarded his medal, during which the commentator, Bob Costas, explained that this story was a myth, and in reality, he had simply lost it. Can anyone find a citation that supports either version of this? LonelyBeacon (talk) 11:32, 17 May 2008 (UTC)

Dates
The official olympic movement website (http://www.olympic.org/uk/games/past/index_uk.asp?OLGT=1&OLGY=1996) shows that the closing ceremony was on August 4, not August 9. (I'd edit this but for some reason when I go to edit the page those dates don't appear!) Izzycat (talk) 14:47, 11 June 2008 (UTC)


 * Fixed. Thanks for pointing this out.  -- Tcncv (talk) 06:31, 21 August 2008 (UTC)

Keri Strug highlight
I had always heard (contrary to how it is listed in the highlights here, that Keri Strug did not in fact clinch the gold medal for hte U.S. despite it being reported that way all over the place. There is this snippet from the article on Keri Strug: Following the media uproar over Kerri's fight to win the team gold, there was controversy concerning her need to have vaulted a second time. According to the final team results [5], the U.S. could still have won the team gold if Kerri had not vaulted. Unfortunately, the Russians still had one performance left (Rosa Galieva), but Kerri decided to vault in an effort to clinch the gold for the U.S. team. Unfortunately, the citation is a broken link, and I cannot confirm it.  Is there anyone else who can straighten this out? LonelyBeacon (talk) 03:21, 26 June 2008 (UTC)
 * I have now edited the Kerri Strug page, providing better citations and, I'd like to think, a clearer explanation of what happened. She did clinch the gold, but did so on her first vault.  In the heat of the moment, while other US coaches were flapping around trying to calculate whether Kerri had done well enough to stave off the Russian who was yet to perform, Bela Karolyi simply told his former student, essentially, "the only way to be absolutely sure is if you go out there and do it again."  Was it necessary?  No.  Could the coaches have figured it out quickly by assuming a 10 for the Russian who was yet to perform?  Yes.  Were they stupid for not being able to do simple math in a few seconds?  Absolutely.  But Bela was right, too, because gymnastics is about perception and "judgment".  It's one thing to squeak by on math, and then have that math possibly challenged later on by a protest from Russia.  Just look at what happened to both Paul Hamm and Carly Patterson in the All-Arounds in Athens.  By going back and taking the second, definitive vault, Strug erased any doubt that the US deserved to win.  It made the mathematical difference between Russia and the US insurmountable by any reasonable challenge, on the floor or off.  Strug helped the US win with authority.  Given the problems that have plagued gymnastics and figure skating lately, the important thing about the "unnecessary second vault" was that it took judging "error" completely out of the equation.  They won by .82 because of her second vault, which still stands as the largest margin of victory in the post-Soviet era (that is, since 1988).   Czech Out   ☎ |  ✍  22:05, 10 August 2008 (UTC)
 * Okay, now I'm not so certain about whether she needed the second vault or not. If you review the contemporary NBC coverage, the commentators say, prior to her first vault, that she needs a 9.473.  Since she only got a 9.172, she in fact did need the second vault, at least according to NBC in the moment.  I'm not sure what's the most accurate account; one that happened at the time, or one that was told in retrospect.    Czech Out   ☎ |  ✍  23:11, 11 August 2008 (UTC)
 * Revised Kerri Strug yet again to reflect the fact that various sources say various things. Reflective, post-Olympics coverage is, as far as I can tell, unanimous in its decision that the second vault wasn't necessary.  At the precise moment of the event — or should I say the precise minute of the event — there were several numbers floating around.  What I've not been able to find is a precise minute-by-minute breakdown of the scores to determine who's really "right".  If we knew, at the second Kerri chose to make the follow-up vault, what the Russian score was, and how many Russians were left to compete, we could figure out the math.  But, as far as I can see, no one has reported the event to that degree of accuracy.  I'm guessing the simple reason for that is just that, in the end, the story of her sticking it on one leg is a better story than "Did she really have to go out and be a hero?"  It may also be that, due to the extremely fast pace of the event, it would have been extremely tedious to figure it all out.   Czech Out   ☎ |  ✍  04:16, 12 August 2008 (UTC)

How did the Cuban team get to the US?
Seeing as no Airline flies between the two countries, how did the Cuban Olympic team get into the US?Davez621 (talk) 18:11, 15 August 2008 (UTC)
 * Without knowing anything about the specifics of the situation, I would assume "via another country" - the same as athletes from most other countries would. -- Chuq (talk) 00:59, 16 August 2008 (UTC)
 * Chuq is right. Usually, travel to and from Cuba (and mail) is done by way of Canada or Mexico. Ileanadu (talk) 17:10, 6 December 2019 (UTC)

Athens
To those who insist that the IOC voted against Athens because its "infrastructure could not be improved enough in time to successfully host the Games", you'll have to source that claim rather convincingly if you want it to remain in the article. As for the part about 2004, that belongs in the relevant article, not here. I also challenge you to cite some evidence to back up your claim, rather than resorting to blind reverting. ·ΚΕΚΡΩΨ· (talk) 15:41, 2 September 2008 (UTC)

Phelps
Why does this article say that micheal phelps won his 14th medal in the 2008 olympics. In my opinion, this is irrelevent and I will be removing it. --Xorsist (talk) 22:49, 2 April 2009

Commercial, commercial, commercial.
Am I the only one who thinks this article repeats itself over and over again? I'm no writer myself, but everyone knows only one mention of commercialization is necessary. The monotonous subject makes the article look vindictive and childish. MagnoliaSouth (talk) 10:03, 13 August 2012 (UTC)


 * I have the reverse attitude, I think this article treads much too lightly on the topic and is far too kind in general. The Atlanta games are referred to as "inept" and as "an elongated event of tattiness and tawdriness" ref), and it has been stated that "No-one could do worse for the Olympics than Atlanta" . The article also fails to mention that the Games were the first (and to date, only) Games run by a private consortium, and the IOC has since vowed to never let that happen again (see next to prev ref). Manning (talk) 03:32, 5 February 2013 (UTC)

First-time medal winners list
Belarus is erroneously included in the list of nations that won Olympic medals for the first time. The country's first Olympic medals as an individual nation were received at the 1994 Winter games in skating and the biathlon. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Vauntedboatboat (talk • contribs) 16:54, 5 June 2013 (UTC)

Actually, the same is also true of Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, and Ukraine. All also won medals at the '94 Winter games. Vauntedboatboat (talk) 16:59, 5 June 2013 (UTC)

Bid
"Atlanta's main rivals were Toronto, whose front running bid that began in 1986 seemed almost sure to succeed after Canada had held a successful 1988 Winter Olympics in Calgary and a 1999 Pan American Games in Winnipeg ..."

What does successful 1999 Pan American Games have to do with a 1990 voting?

85.76.53.69 (talk) 18:21, 21 September 2015 (UTC)

Wrong date(s) of shooting competition(s)
Something about the dates of the shooting competitions is wrong. According to the linked blue dot in the calendar, the Men's 25 metre rapid fire pistol (won by the Ralf Schumann, Germany) was held on Day 5 (July 24), and the Men's 50 metre rifle prone (won by Christian Klees, Germany) was held on Day 6 (July 25). The trouble begins with this video, the German Tagesschau evening news of July 25, 1996 (German time, but that does not make a difference). It opens with the story that finally, on the 6th day of competitions, the first gold medal was won for Germany, by Klees! If the Wikipedia calendar was correct, the first German gold medal in Atlanta would already have been won by Schumann on the previous day. (Also, is there any reason why the fields in the row "cycling" of July 26th and 27th are blue, even though event finals are listed there?)--VorerstGescheitert (talk) 18:55, 25 July 2016 (UTC)

Appraisal
The very existence of an Appraisal section in a neutral encyclopedia troubles me but the sneering and snobbery doesn't seem called for. Maybe 500 cheerleaders is garish and vulgar but is it any more so than an actress dressed as the Queen parachuting out of a plane or dancing nurses or people painted to resemble naked gold statues? It's fairly obvious that what the writer of this objects to isn't the lack of high culture (that would be an absurd thing to expect from an opening ceremony) but the fact that Americans dared to reference their own popular culture, which he considers uniquely deserving of derision. Much of the section deserves to remain but there's no source for foreigners considering it "questionable in taste". The New York Times article is simply a general comment on the bizarre nature of these ceremonies, arguing that it's no more incomprehensible than others. It isn't scathing in the way that is implied here. The Coca Cola article does not say that Coca Cola was the "exclusive drink offered"; it says that the Coca Cola company was the exclusive provider of soft drinks, which is an entirely different matter and the same situation has existed at other games.--Lo2u (T • C) 23:23, 18 August 2016 (UTC)

External links modified
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 * Added archive https://web.archive.org/web/20080528011846/http://www.la84foundation.org/6oic/OfficialReports/1996/1996v1.pdf to http://www.la84foundation.org/6oic/OfficialReports/1996/1996v1.pdf
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Attendance, Stadium & Events after bombing
Neither this article nor the one on the bombing say anything about the effect on attendance or the games. Looking at the calendar it doesn't look like any events were cancelled. Whether or not these were affected, it's relevant. Were people still allowed into the park? What additional security (if any, and I assume there was) was imposed? Ileanadu (talk) 17:17, 6 December 2019 (UTC)

Waffle Olympics?
Also known as the Waffle Olympics? I see nothing in the citations, Am I missing something uniquely Atlantan or is this not just vandalism? Sorry I'm new here so hesitant to be bold and just cut it out. Advice on best practice appreciated.  Clunk Butter  talk &#124;contrib 13:22, 6 June 2020 (UTC)


 * Great catch, and welcome to editing! This was apparently someone being cute. I've reverted. Checking the "view history" tab is often useful for stuff like this--a few days ago, someone changed "Centennial" to "Waffle". If you can find where an apparently nonsensical thing was introduced, that usually gives a good indication if it's actually nonsense or if there's something more to it. -- Jonel (Speak to me) 00:51, 7 June 2020 (UTC)