The XXVI Olympiad in Atlanta was known as the the Centennial Olympics,
because the first celebration of the modern era was back in 1896.
The Atlanta Sumer Olympic Games got off to a dramatic start when the cauldron was lit by Mohammad Ali.
It was also moving when he received a replacement gold medal for the one
that he lost years before.
Carl Lewis became only the fourth person to win the same individual event
four times, and the fourth person to earn a ninth gold medal.
In the second round of the middleweight (82kg) freestyle wrestling
tournament, Elmadi Jabrailov of Kazakhstan faced Tucuman Jabrailov of Moldova.
The two were brothers from Chechnya, but chose not to represent Russia because
of its war against their homeland. Elmadi won the high-scoring but unusually
friendly encounter by 10 points to 8.
Sailor Hubert Raudaschl (AUT) became the first person ever to compete in nine
Olympics. Before he began his streak in 1964, he was a reserve in 1960.
Michael Johnson's
(USA) success over both 200 and 400m was the
first double in these events for a man in Olympic history. His victory over 200m in 19.32 seconds
established a new world record which, in terms of quality, came close to the
8.90m in the long jump with which Bob Beamon astonished the world in Mexico in
1968.
The 1,500m was by Morceli, unfortunately, El Guerroudj fell.
Olympic Games Trivia
Naim Suleymanoglu (Turkey) became the first weightlifter in
history to win three consecutive Olympic titles. 'When he eats at a restaurant,
nobody asks him to pay the bill; if he breaks the speed limit, he does not get
fined, and the police wish him a pleasant journey, 'wrote a Turkish journalist.
The Atlanta Olympics were marred by a bombing at the Centennial Olympic
Park on July 27. This attack killed one spectator, Alice Hawthorne,
and wounded 111 others. Eric Robert Rudolph confessed to this bombing
and several others. He is now in a US Federal prison.
More Olympic Trivia
Lee Lai Shan won a gold medal in sailing, the only Olympic medal that
Hong Kong ever won as a British colony (1952-1997). Consequently, this is
the only time that the Hong Kong flag was raised to the accompaniment of the
God Save the Queen. Sovereignty was transferred to China one year
later in 1997
Sports that Should Not Be Allowed at the Olympics
Much as Will and Guy appreciates sports such as the
Tour de France,
and the Wimbledon tennis championships, these competitors have no place in
the Olympics. Michael Indurain and Andre Agassi are great sportsmen
but they don't belong in the Olympics.
Doping
Inevitably there were cases of doping and suspected doping, for example,
Michelle Smith of Ireland won three gold medals, However, her
victories were brought into question when she was handed out four-year
suspension in 1998 for tampering with a urine sample.
Footnote Please send us your interesting facts
and trivia for the Atlanta 1996 Olympic games.
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