Atlanta 1996

Games of the XXVI Olympiad
Host city	Atlanta, Georgia, USA
Motto	The Celebration of the Century
Nations participating	197
Athletes participating	10,320
Opening ceremony	19 July
Closing ceremony	4 August
Officially opened by	President Bill Clinton
Athlete's Oath	Teresa Edwards
Judge's Oath	Hobie Billingsley
Olympic Torch	Muhammad Ali
Stadium	Centennial Olympic Stadium

The 1996 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXVI Olympiad, also known as Atlanta 1996 and unofficially known as the Centennial Olympic Games) were an international multi-sport event held between July 19 and August 4, 1996 in Atlanta, Georgia. These were the fourth Games to be hosted by the United States, and marked the centennial of the first Olympics in 1896. They were also the first Summer Olympics to be held in a different year from the Winter Olympic Games, due to a new IOC system.

Bidding

Voting results for the 1996 Summer Olympic Games
City	Country	R1	R2	R3	R4	R5
Atlanta	United States	19	20	26	34	51
Athens	Greece	23	23	26	30	35
Toronto	Canada	14	17	18	22
Melbourne	Australia	12	21	16
Manchester	Great Britain	11	5
Belgrade	Yugoslavia	7

Mascots

Izzy and Blaze were the mascots of the 1996 Summer Olympic Games and Paralympic Games in Atlanta, Georgia. Izzy was made by John Ryan, while Blaze was made by Trevor Stone Irvin of Irvin Productions. While Blaze was a phoenix, Izzy was a cartoon character that could morph into different things, which was a major departure from the usual mascot of the Olympics. Originally, Izzy was known as Whatizit (a play on the saying "what is it?") but was renamed due to criticism from the public. He was initially unveiled in the Barcelona 1992 Closing Ceremony. Izzy also had a cartoon special, named "Izzy's Quest for Olympic Gold". The cartoon was made by Film Roman and was aired on TNT in August 1995. The plot followed Izzy living in the Olympic Torch, and had to collect all 5 Olympic Rings to tryout for the Olympic Games. The special had long been lost media, but was found on a VHS tape recording on YouTube on December 2020. Izzy also has 2 video games, Izzy's Quest for the Olympic Rings, released in 1995 for the Sega Genesis and released the following year for the SNES. The other being Izzy's Adventure on PC in 1996. This one was a more educational game and was based on the animated special. Izzy was also the first computer designed mascot.

Blaze

Blaze is a male Phoenix and as mentioned earlier, was the mascot of the 1996 Atlanta Paralympic Games. Blaze was chosen as a phoenix as it had been the symbol of Atlanta after the devastation caused in the city during the American Civil War. It is also the personification of the will, perseverance, and determination of the disabled to achieve full and productive lives. His bright colors, height, and broad wing span identify in a focus group of disabled athletes, as those they believed best represented the drive to succeed of persons with physical disability who pursue sports as recreation and as a competitive endeavor. Blaze is still used today as the mascot of BlazeSports America, a nonprofit organization that directly is a legacy of the Games. Blaze, today, is known as the most recognizable symbol in sports for the disabled.

Criticism

Izzy's original design.

While Blaze was a well known mascot, Izzy was also well known, but also for the wrong reasons. The criticism began after he was unveiled during the Barcelona 1992 Closing Ceremony, as people started posting letters to the Atlanta Olympic Organizing Committee offices because people wanted to know what exactly was he supposed to be and what he had to do with the city of Atlanta. He was renamed "Izzy" with the help of some focus groups, then was redesigned by removing his second row of teeth, giving him a nose, making his tongue visible, and making his limbs longer, skinnier, and more athletic. This was an attempt to draw towards children, as he was more popular in that demographic. Despite this, Izzy was still unpopular among adults, as he was given nicknames by the media such as "The Sperm in Sneakers" alongside others. His name was used by Busch Gardens Williamsburg, a theme park in Williamsburg, Virginia, in a roller coaster, which has since had its name changed. A popular joke around Atlanta after the Games was the blue line (which was supposed to be the path of the Olympic Marathon) was "Izzy's ass getting dragged out of town".

Torch

The Olympic torch was modelled to look like the most ancient of torches, a bundle of reeds bound by twine. The design stirred a bit of controversy, however, when it was pointed out that the torch also resembled a fasces, the symbol of fascism.

Sports

← Winter 1994	1996 Summer Olympic Games	Winter 1998 →
← 1992		2000 →
Archery	Athletics	Badminton
Baseball / Softball	Basketball	Boxing
Canoeing	Cycling	Diving
Equestrian	Fencing	Field Hockey
Football	Gymnastics	Handball
Judo	Modern Pentathlon	Rowing
Sailing	Shooting	Swimming
Synchronized Swimming	Table Tennis	Tennis
Volleyball	Water Polo	Weightlifting
Wrestling

Medal table

Rank	Country				Total
1	United States	44	32	25	101
2	Russia	26	21	16	63
3	Germany	20	18	27	65
4	China	16	22	12	50
5	France	15	7	15	37
6	Italy	13	10	12	35
7	Australia	9	9	23	41
8	Cuba	9	8	8	25
9	Ukraine	9	2	12	23
10	South Korea	7	15	5	27
11	Poland	7	5	5	17
12	Hungary	7	4	10	21
13	Spain	5	6	6	17
14	Romania	4	7	9	20
15	Netherlands	4	5	10	19
16	Greece	4	4	0	8
17	Czech Republic	4	3	4	11
18	Switzerland	4	3	0	7
19	Denmark	4	1	1	6
19	Turkey	4	1	1	6
21	Canada	3	11	8	22
22	Bulgaria	3	7	5	15
23	Japan	3	6	5	14
24	Kazakhstan	3	4	4	11
25	Brazil	3	3	9	15
26	New Zealand	3	2	1	6
27	South Africa	3	1	1	5
28	Ireland	3	0	1	4
29	Sweden	2	4	2	8
30	Norway	2	2	3	7
31	Belgium	2	2	2	6
32	Nigeria	2	1	3	6
33	North Korea	2	1	2	5
34	Algeria	2	0	1	3
34	Ethiopia	2	0	1	3
36	Great Britain	1	8	6	15
37	Belarus	1	6	8	15
38	Kenya	1	4	3	8
39	Jamaica	1	3	2	6
40	Finland	1	2	1	4
41	Indonesia	1	1	2	4
41	Yugoslavia	1	1	2	4
43	Iran	1	1	1	3
43	Slovakia	1	1	1	3
45	Armenia	1	1	0	2
45	Croatia	1	1	0	2
47	Portugal	1	0	1	2
47	Thailand	1	0	1	2
49	Burundi	1	0	0	1
49	Costa Rica	1	0	0	1
49	Ecuador	1	0	0	1
49	Hong Kong	1	0	0	1
49	Syria	1	0	0	1
54	Argentina	0	2	1	3
55	Namibia	0	2	0	2
55	Slovenia	0	2	0	2
57	Austria	0	1	2	3
58	Malaysia	0	1	1	2
58	Moldova	0	1	1	2
58	Uzbekistan	0	1	1	2
61	Azerbaijan	0	1	0	1
61	Bahamas	0	1	0	1
61	Chinese Taipei	0	1	0	1
61	Georgia	0	1	0	1
61	Latvia	0	1	0	1
61	Philippines	0	1	0	1
61	Tonga	0	1	0	1
61	Zambia	0	1	0	1
69	Morocco	0	0	2	2
69	Trinidad and Tobago	0	0	2	2
71	India	0	0	1	1
71	Israel	0	0	1	1
71	Lithuania	0	0	1	1
71	Mexico	0	0	1	1
71	Mongolia	0	0	1	1
71	Mozambique	0	0	1	1
71	Puerto Rico	0	0	1	1
71	Tunisia	0	0	1	1
71	Uganda	0	0	1	1

Preceded by Lillehammer 1994	Olympics 1996	Succeeded by Nagano 1998
Preceded by Barcelona 1992	Summer Olympics 1996	Succeeded by Sydney 2000