Atlanta 1996
July 19- Day 1
197 Countries, 11,000 Athletes, The Largest Olympics Ever Begins With The Opening Ceremonies At Olympic Stadium3.5 Billion Around The World Watched The Spectacle, 85,000 Were Lucky Enough To Sit Inside Olympic StadiumPresident Bill Clinton Declared Open The GamesMuhammad Ali Lighted The Wick That Went Up The Pulley To Light The Torch At 12:28 AMThe Weather: High Of 97 Degrees, Low Of 75 Degrees, No Precipitation, Maximum Dewpoint Was 67 Degrees
July 20- Day 2
Renata Mauer of Poland Won The First Gold Medal In The Games In Women's 10-Meter Air RifleNo Gold For U.S. Through Day 2 As Germany Leads The Medal Race With 5, China Leads Gold Medal Race With 2Fred Deburghgraeve Of Belgium Set First World Record In The Games With A Time Of 1:00.60 In 100-Meter Breaststroke Prelims. He Went On To Win The Gold At The FinalsAfternoon Thunderstorms Caused A 1 Hour, 22 Minute Rain Delay Around 4:30 PM During The Cuba-Australia Baseball GameThe Weather: High Of 97 Degrees, Low Of 79 Degrees, No Precipitation Officially But Rain Fell Across Metro Area, Maximum Dewpoint Was 70 Degrees
July 21- Day 3
Swimmer Tom Dolan Wins The First Gold Medal For The United States In The Games By Winning The 400-Meter Medley In 4:14.90Claudia Poll Won The First Gold Medal Ever For Costa Rica In The 200-Meter Freestyle Swim Competition In 1:58.16In What Some Called The Biggest Upset In Japanese Sports, Japan Beat Brazil In A First Round Soccer Match, 1-0 In Front Of 46,713 In MiamiPenny Heyns Of South Africa Set A World Record In 100-Meter Breaststroke In The Qualifying Heat With A Time Of 1:7.02. She Went On To Win Gold In FinalsTang Ningsheng Of China Set A World Record In Weightlifting In The 130-Pound Class With A Total Of 677 3/4 PoundsMorning Rain Cleared By Early Afternoon But It Fell On The Cycling Women's Road Race For An Hour Where Jeannie Longo-Ciprelli Of France Won The Gold In 2 Hours 36:13 Minutes.The Weather: High Of 90 Degrees, Low Of 75 Degrees, 0.3 Inch Of Rain Mostly In Morning, Maximum Dewpoint Was 72 Degrees
July 22- Day 4
American Swimmers Led A Great Night For The United States With 5 Medals, 2 Gold And 3 SilverOne Of Those Gold Came In Olympic Record Time In Women's 400 Meter Freestyle Relay Finals With Angel Martino, Jenny Thompson, Catherine Fox, and Amy Van Dyken In 3:39.29Swimmer Michele Smith Of Ireland Won Her 2nd Gold Medal Of The Olympics But Controversy Surrounds It, Alledged To Have Used SteroidsRussia Wins Team Gold In Men's Gymnastics As The United States Has It's Best Performance Since 1960 In Rome, Finishing 5th'Pocket Hercules', Naim Suleymanoglu Of Turkey Wins His 3rd Straight Gold In The Olympics In Weightlifting, Lifting 325.2 Pounds (147.5 kg)The Weather: High Of 94 Degrees, Low Of 75 Degrees, 0.1 Inch Of Rain, Maximum Dewpoint Was 73 Degrees
July 23- Day 5
In Probably The Most Memorable, Heroic Moment Of The Games, American Gymnast Kerri Strug Shrug Off Injury To Her Ankle And Vaulted Scoring 9.712 Which Brought The U.S. Women Their First Ever Team Gold With A 389.225, Russia Finished Silver With 388.404The U.S. Swim Team Has Totaled 17 Medals Through This Day And Were Not Even Suppose To Do That Well But It Was Headlined By Jeff Rouse's Record 100 Meter Backstroke In 54:10, The Fastest Time In The World In 1996Russian Greco-Roman Wrestler, Alexander Karelin Scored His Record Third Gold Medal In The Sport At 286 Pounds Winning 1-0 Over American Matt GhaffariWeightlifter Zhan Xugang Of China Set Three World Records Winning The Snatch With A 357 Pound Lift And Clean And Jerk With 430.9 Pounds And Also Set A Record With The TotalThe Weather: High Of 91 Degrees, Low Of 73 Degrees, No Precipitation, Maximum Dewpoint Was 69 Degrees
July 24- Day 6
Chinese Gynmast, Li Xiaoshaung, The Reigning World Champion In Men's All Around Won Gold In That Event Beating Russian Alexei Nemov 58.423 To 58.374. It Was The First All-Around Gold In China's Gymnastics HistoryLed By 21-Year Old Rookie Rider Wendy Schaeffer, Australia Won It's 2nd Straight Three-Day Event In Equestrain Getting Gold With A Score Of 203.850 Over Silver Medal United States 261.100Swimmer Denis Pankratov Of Russia Set A World Record In The Men's 100-Meter Butterfly With A Time Of 52.27 SecondsThe Weather: High Of 91 Degrees, Low Of 72 Degrees, No Precipitation, Maximum Dewpoint Was 67 Degrees
July 25- Day 7
Ukraine Gynmast And 1996 World Champion, Lilia Podkopayeva, Won All-Around Gold Beating China's Mo Huilan, 39.225 To 39.075. It's The First Time For A World-Olympic Champion Combo Since 1972.An Olympic Record Was Broken Three Times In Cycling On This Day. First By Germany's Judith Arndt And France's Marion Clignet But At The End It Belonged To Italy's Antonella Bellutti In The Women's Individual Pursuit 3:34.130.China Threw The First No-Hitter Of The Olympics In Women's Softball Defeating The Netherlands, 7-0.American Swimmer Brooke Bennett Logged The Fastest Time Of The Year In The 800-Meter Freestyle Winning Gold In 8:27.89. American Janet Evans Swam Her Final Race Finishing Sixth In The Event.Italy Captured It's Second Straight Gold In Women's Team Foil Finals Defeating Hungary 45-42. Russia Took Gold In The Men's Team Foil Finals Beating Cuba 45-44.A 2 Hour Rain Delay In Columbus Forced The United States/Canada Women's Softball Game To End At 2amThe Weather: High Of 87 Degrees, Low Of 72 Degrees, 0.1 Inch Of Rain With Rain And Thunderstorms, Maximum Dewpoint Was 69 Degrees
July 26- Day 8
American Swimmer Amy Van Dyken Is The First U.S. Woman To Win 4 Gold Medals In Any Olympiad And Ties Janet Evans For Most Swimming Gold Medals. She Won Gold In The 100 Meter Butterfly, 400 Meter Free Medley, 400 Meter Medley Relay, And 50 Meter Freestyle.The U.S. Men's 400-Meter Medley Relay Of Gary Hall, Jr., Mark Henderson, Jeremy Linn, And Jeff Rouse Shattered A World Record Taking Gold In The Finals In 3:34.84Jefferson Perez Of Ecuador Brought The Country It's First Medal Ever Taking Gold In The 20 Kilometer Racewalk In 1:20.07.Greek Weightlifter Pyrros Dimas Lifted A World Record 396.8 Pounds In The Snatch And 469.6 Pounds In The Clean And Jerk To Win Gold In The 182.6 Pound Weight Class.The Weather: High Of 85 Degrees, Low Of 70 Degrees, No Rain But Rain And Thunderstorms Were In The Area, Maximum Dewpoint Was 69 Degrees
July 27- Day 9
A Tragic Explosion Occured At 1:19 AM At Centennial Olympic Park, Where 2 People, Alice Hawthorne And Mehlih Uzonyol, Were Killed And 111 People Were Injured50,000 People Were In The Park Watching A Concert At The Time Of The ExplosionBomb Threats By The Dozens Throughout The Rest Of The Day, However 90 Percent Of The Events Were Sold Out While The Park Was Closed And Would Remain So For A Few DaysThe Games Went On With A Flags At Half Mast And A Prayer At Each VenueThe Weather Set The Mood, With Clouds And RainDonovan Bailey Of Canada Set A World Record In The 100-Meters In Athletics Taking Gold In 9.84 Seconds After Three False StartsAmerican Gail Devers Became The First Woman To Repeat As 100 Meter Champion In 28 Years Winning Gold In 10.94 SecondsWeightlifter Alexei Petrov Of Russia Set A World Record Taking Gold In The Snatch Of 886 Pounds In The 200.6 Pound Weight ClassRecords Weren't Only Set In The Competition But Also In The Stands At The Shooting Venue Setting American Records For Attendance At Rifle, Pistol, And Shotgun EventsGreat Britain's Rower Steven Redgrave Became Only The 4th Olympian To Win Gold In Four Straight GamesBaseball Was Delayed 2 Hours And 15 Minutes Due To The Rainfall While Off And On Rain Delayed TennisThe Weather: High Of 81 Degrees, Low Of 71 Degrees, 0.6 Inch Of Rain With Steady Rain Most Of The Day, Maximum Dewpoint Was 69 Degrees
July 28- Day 10
Ethoipian Fatuma Roba Won The Women's Marathon In The Fastest Time For A Women's Marathon In 2:26.05. It Was Ethoipia's Second Gold Medal In Athletics Ever.The Weather For The Marathon Started Rainy Then Remained Cloudy With Temperatures In The Muggy 70s.Riot Police Had To Be Called To The Olympic Tennis Center When A Match That Was Scheduled For The 12,000 Seat Center Court Was Moved To The 5,000 Seat Court One Due To Rain. It Wasn't Too Violent And The Match Featuring Andrei Agassi Was Moved To Center Court.The U.S.-Cuba Baseball Game Was Delayed 30 Minutes Before The Start Due To Rain But Didn't Turn Away The 51,223 That Showed Up At Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium To See That Highly Anticipated Game Which Cuba Won 10-8.American Karch Kiraly Became The First Volleyball Player To Win 3 Gold Medals When He And His Beach Volleyball Partner, Kent Steffes Beat Americans Mike Dodd And Mike Whitmarsh, 12-5, 12-8. Kiraly Led The Indoor Volleyball Team To Gold In 1984 And 1988.The First Gold Medal To Be Awarded To An Asian Nation In Yachting Went To Lee Lai-shan Of Hong Kong In The Women's Mistral Class Race Finishing 10 Seconds Ahead Of Her Closest Competitor.Germany Won Their Third Straight Team Gold In Dressage In Equestrian With A Score Of 5553.France Won It's First Gold Medal In Canoe/Kayak As Wilfrid Forgues And Franck Addison Won In The Canoe Doubles Slalom At The Oconee Whitewater Center With A 158.82.Ghada Shouaa Won Syria's First Olympic Gold Medal In The Heptathlon In Athletics With A Score Of 6780.Kakhi Kakhiashvilis Of Greece Set A World Record In The Snatch And Clean And Jerk Winning Gold In The 218 Pound Weightlifting Class, Lifting A Total Of 926 Pounds.The Weather: High Of 79 Degrees, Low Of 70 Degrees, 0.2 Inch Of Rain With Occasional Rain Through The Day, Maximum Dewpoint Was 67 Degrees.
July 29- Day 11
American Carl Lewis Won His 4th Consecutive Gold Medal In A Single Event Tieing Al Oerter And Won His 9th Gold Medal To Take Gold In The Long Jump At 27 Feet, 10 3/4 Inches.American Micheal Johnson Set An Olympic Record To Take Gold In The 400 Meters In 43.49 Seconds.American Allen Johnson Set An Olympic Record Taking Gold In The 110 Meter Hurdles In 12.95 Seconds.France's Marie-Jose Perec Set An Olympic Record In The 400 Meter Finals In 48.25 Seconds, The Fastest Run By A Woman In 10 Years.Timor Taimazov Of Ukraine Set A World Record In The Clean And Jerk Lifting 520.3 Pounds And Taking Gold In The 238.1 Pound Class In Weightlifting.The Weather: High Of 90 Degrees, Low Of 68 Degrees, No Rain Officially, Maximum Dewpoint Was 67 Degrees.
July 30- Day 12
Over 250,000 Spectators, Dignitaries, Celebrities, And Officials Re-Open Centennial Olympic Park Following The Bombing That Killed 2 And Injured Over 111 A Few Days Earlier.The United States Win The First Gold Medal In Women's Softball Beating China 3-1, In Front Of A Sellout Crowd Of 8,750 In Columbus.Superheavyweight Andrei Chemerkin Of Russia Set A World Record In The Clean-And-Jerk Lifting 573.2 Pounds Taking Gold With A Total Of 1,008.6 Pounds In The 238 Pound Division.15 American Records Have Been Set In Weightlifting, The Most At One Olympics.Yevhin Braslavets And Ihor Matviyenko Of Ukraine Won The First Gold Medal In Their Country's History In Yachting Winning It In The Men's 470 Dinghy.Bert Brentjens Of Netherlands Won The First Olympic Mountain Bike Race In The Individual Cross Country Taking Gold In 2:17.38. While For The Women, Paola Pezzo Of Italy Took Gold In 1:50.51.Europeans Have Won Every Cycling Medal So Far.Aleksandr Parygin Of Kazakhstan Won Gold In The Modern Pentathlon With A Total Of 5551.The Weather: High Of 91 Degrees, Low Of 73 Degrees, No Rain Officially, Maximum Dewpoint Was 68 Degrees.
July 31- Day 13
Indonesia's Rexy Mainaky and Ricky Subagia Won Men's Doubles Gold In Badminton Defeating Yap Kim Hock And Cheah Soon Kit Of Malaysia, 5-15, 15-13, 15-12. In The Women's Doubles Match, Ge Fei And Gu Jun Of China Won The First Gold In China Badminton Defeating Number One Seeds Gil Young-Ah And Jang Hye-Ock Of South Korea 15-5, 15-5 In 36 Minutes.China's Deng Yaping Defending Her 1992 Gold By Defeating Chen Jing Of Chinese Taipei 22-19, 21-5 In Women's Singles Table Tennis Gold Medal Match. Both Competitors Were The Only Women To Win Table Tennis Gold Since 1988.Women Diver Fu Mingxia Of China Became The First Woman Since 1960 To Win Both Olympic Diving Gold Medals After Taking The Women's Springboard Gold With A 547.68.With A Shocked Look On His Face, Norwegian Vebjoern Rodal Took Gold In The Men's 800 Meters Finals Winning 1:42.58.Jamaica's Deon Hemmings Won The First Individual Track Gold For Her Country By A Woman Ever Winning The 400 Meter Hurdles In 52.82 Seconds.Pascal Richard Of Switzerland Took Gold In The Men's Road Race In Cycling Winning In 4:53.56 Ahead A Bike Length In Front Of Rolf Sorensen Of Denmark Who Had The Same Time.South Korea's Kim Kyung-Wook Took Women's Gold In Archery Defeating He Ying Of China 113-107.The Weather: High Of 87 Degrees, Low Of 73 Degrees, No Rain Officially But Rain And Thunderstorms In The Area, Maximum Dewpoint Was 70 Degrees.
August 1- Day 14
American Micheal Johnson Becomes The First Man To Win Gold In The 200 And 400 Meters. He Set A World Record This Day In Front Of A Packed Olympic Stadium With A 19.32 In The 200.France's Marie Jose-Perec Becomes The First Woman To Win The 200 And 400 Meters Since 1984 When She Took Gold In The 200 In 22.12.American Dan O'Brien Won The Decathlon With A Score Of 8824.Australia Won Gold In Women's Field Hockey Defeating South Korea 3-1.76,481 Fans Packed Sanford Stadium In Athens, The Largest Olympic Soccer Crowd Ever, Saw The U.S. Women Win The First Gold Medal In Soccer Defeating China 2-1.American Justin Huish Won The Individual 70 Gold In Archery Defeating Paul Vermeiren Of Belgium In The Final Round, 112-103 Through A Downpour At Times.China's Liu Guoliang Defeats Teammate Wang Tao In Men's Individual Table Tennis Taking Gold Incluiding Winning The Last Game 21-6 Convincingly.Denmark's Poul-Erik Hoyer-Larsen Won Gold In Men's Singles Badminton Defeating China's Dong Jiong 15-12, 15-10. South Korea's Bang Soo-hyun Won Women's Singles Gold Over Mia Audina Of Indonesia 11-6, 11-7.Germany Won The Team Show-Jumping Gold Defeating All Competitors With A 1.750. Incidentally, Heavy Rainfall Caused A Delay Of A Couple Of Hours.Spain Won Their Second Consecutive Gold In The Women's 470 In Yachting.The Weather: High Of 84 Degrees, Low Of 73 Degrees, 0.2 Of An Inch Of Rain, Maximum Dewpoint Was 71 Degrees.
August 2- Day 15
The United States Scores All Perfect 10s To Win The First Gold Medal Ever In Team Competition In Synchronized Swimming Beating Canada 99.720 to 98.367.Russian Dmitri Sautin Took Gold In Men's Platform Diving With A 663.27 But China Medaled In Every Diving Event.The Netherlands Took Gold In Men's Field Hockey Defeating Spain 3-1. It's Their First Field Hockey Olympic Title.Jackie Joyner-Kersee Ended Her 12 Year Olympic Epic Run When She Took Bronze In The Long Jump With A Jump Of 22 feet 11 3/4 Inches. Chioma Ajunwa Of Nigeria Took Gold With A Jump Of 23 Feet 4 1/2 Inches.The U.S. Men's Team Of Justin Huish, Butch Johnson, And Rod White Defeated South Korea's Team 251-249 To Take Gold In The Team Archery Event. South Korea's Women Won Their Third Straight Gold In Team Archery Defeating Germany.Cuba Hit 8 Home Runs Leading Them Over Japan 13-9 In Baseball As They Won Gold.American Lindsay Davenport Took Gold In Women's Singles Defeating Spain's Arantxa Sanchez Vicario 7-6 (8-6), 6-2. Australia's Mark Woodforde And Todd Woodbridge Won Gold In Men's Doubles Over Great Britain's Neil Broad And Tim Henman 6-4, 6-4, 6-2.The German Group Of Juchen Schuemann, Thomas Flach, And Bernd Jackel Won Their Second Medal Of These Games Taking Gold In Soling In Yachting.American Wrestler Bruce Baumgartner Won Bronze In Over 100 Kg Divison Which Is His 13th World Or Olympic Medal Of His Career More Than Any Wrestler In History.Spain Won Team Gold In Rhythmic Gymnastics Over Bulgaria 38.933 To 38.866.The Weather: High Of 88 Degrees, Low Of 72 Degrees, No Rain Officially But A Severe Thunderstorm Dropped An Inch Of Rain In 30 Minutes In Conyers At The Horse Park, Maximum Dewpoint Was 69 Degrees.
August 3- Day 16
The United States Men's Basketball Team, "Dream Team", Won Gold Win They Defeated Yugoslovia 95-69.In Front Of A Sellout Crowd Of 86,116 In Athens, Nigeria Won It's First Olympic Gold Soccer Medal Win It Defeated Argentina, 3-2 In The Men's Gold Medal Match.Denmark Won A Dramatic Shootout In Overtime Defeating South Korea 37-33 In The Women's Handball Gold Medal Match.Miguel Indurain Of Spain Won Gold In The Men's Cycling Time Trial With A Time Of 1:04.05. Zulfiya Zabirova Of Russia Won The Women's Time Trial Gold In 36:40.The U.S. Lost Their First Ever Men's 400 Relay Without A Disqualification When Canada, Led By Donovan Bailey Took Gold In 37.69.Jan Zelezny Of The Czech Republic Became The First Man To Repeat As Javelin Champion Since 1924 With A Gold In 289 Feet, 3 Inches.American Andrei Agassi Took Gold In Men's Singles Defeating Spain's Sergi Bruguera 6-2, 6-3, 6-1. Americans Gigi Fernandez And Mary Joe Fernandez Won Gold In Women's Doubles Over Czech Republic's Helena Sukova And Jana Novotna 7-6 (8-6), 6-4.Leander Paes Of India Beat Brazil's Fernando Meligeni 3-6, 6-2, 6-4 To Take Bronze. It Was India's First Medal In 16 Years And First In A Sport Other Than Field Hockey In 44 Years.Cuba Defeated China In Women's Volleyball To Win Gold 14-16, 15-12, 17-16, And 15-6.Germany's Isabell Werth Won Gold In Individual Dressage In EquestrianThe Weather: High Of 84 Degrees, Low Of 72 Degrees, 0.7 Inch Of Rain With Fog Reported, Maximum Dewpoint Was 70 Degrees.
August 4- Day 17
Josia Thugwane Won The First Gold Medal By A Black South African In The Marathon Winning The Closest Margin In Olympics History Over Bong Ju Lee Of South Korea In 2:12.36 To 2:12.39.The U.S. Women Take Gold In Basketball Beating Brazil 111-87.Netherlands Defeated Italy In Men's Volleyball To Take Gold Winning 15-12, 9-15, 16-14, 9-15, 17-15.Croatia Earned It's First Olympic Title When The Men Won Gold Over Sweden 27-26 In Handball.Germany's Ulrich Kirchhoff Won Individual Gold In Show Jumping Giving Germany A Sweep Of Gold Medals In Jumping And Dressage In Equestrian. Ekaterina Serebrianskaya Of Ukraine Took Indivdual Gold In Rhythmic Gymnastics.84,418 Spectators Crowded Olympic Stadium For Closing Ceremonies. 3.5 Billion Watched Worldwide.The United States Won The Medal Count Getting 101, Down 7 From 1992. They Also Took 44 Gold.Of The 197 Countries Participating, 79 Took Medals, A Record. Of Those 79, 53 Took At Least One Gold Medal.The Weather: High Of 90 Degrees, Low Of 72 Degrees, No Rain Officially, Maximum Dewpoint Was 70 Degrees.
