Atlanta Olympics

The 1996 Olympic Games was held in Atlanta Opening date (19 July 1996 to 04 August 1996.) The games were started by Muhammad Ali on the 27th July 1996 when the cauldran was lit. The lighting of the cauldron took place during a concert which was held inCentennial park. Only 8 days later a terrorist bomb was ignited in the FBI headquaters in Atlanta. Total devastation ensued. A total of 110 people were injured and 1 person killed.

As regards the history of the Olympic games, the 1996 Atltanta Games were the largest ever held with a total of nearly 200 nations taking part. Of the 200 nations taking park 53 won gold while 79 nations went home with at least 1 medal.

In terms of atlethic performace these Olympics will be rembered for Carl Lewis who became the 3rd person to win the same event 4 times. and the 4th person to win a ninth gold medal. Micheal Johson broke the 200m world record and also won gold in the 400m.

The Olympic statium seated 85,000 people during both opening and closing cermonies and through the entire games. After the games finished the stadium was converted to a 45,000 seater baseball stadium that tody is home to the Atlanta Braves.

Below are a few interesting statistics on the 1996 games.

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