ATLANTA-Nearly 24 years after the Centennial Olympic Games, the iconic cauldron that was lit by the late Muhammad Ali to kick off the 1996 Games will be relit for the 2020 Tokyo Olympic U.S. Marathon Trials that will run under the cauldron and past Georgia State Stadium this Saturday.

Highlighting Atlanta's Olympic history and legacy, the course for the U.S. Olympic Team Trials - Marathon will take athletes on a tour of some of Atlanta's most important attractions and neighborhoods.

Competitors will begin their race in front of Centennial Olympic Park – the crown jewel of the 1996 Atlanta Games – and head down Marietta Street toward Peachtree. They will proceed three miles north on Peachtree until they pass the intersection of Peachtree and West Peachtree, then turn around and head back down Peachtree in the opposite direction, loop through Atlanta's Old Fourth Ward neighborhood and return to downtown. The runners will complete this loop three times before heading on a 2.2 mile final loop that runs under the Rings and Torch structure from the 1996 Atlanta Olympics, goes by the Georgia Capitol building and passes by the sports stadiums that house the Atlanta Falcons, Atlanta Hawks and Atlanta United FC. They will then reach the welcome sight of the finish line inside Centennial Olympic Park. 

The Olympic Cauldron will be lit on Saturday at noon and remain lit until approximately the end of the marathon trials at 3:30 p.m.

The cauldron resides just outside of Georgia State Stadium at the intersection of Capitol Avenue and Fulton Street. Georgia State Stadium, previously Centennial Olympic Stadium before becoming Turner Field, hosted the Opening and Closing Ceremonies of the 1996 Olympics, along with all of the track and field events. Next to the stadium on the same lot resided Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium which hosted baseball during the Centennial Games.

The cauldron was originally designed by Siah Armajani, who was chosen from among 30 artists and it was manufactured by American Structural Metal Inc., of Hugo, Minn.
Ali, who was suffering from Parkinson's disease at the time, lit the cauldron after receiving the torch from American swimmer Janet Evans. The torch was carried by more than 12,000 torchbearers from its start in Olympia, Greece, covering 16,699 miles. Al Oerter, four-time gold medal-winning discus thrower, carried the torch to the stadium, where he gave it to boxer Evander Holyfield, who paired with Voula Patoulida, an Olympic hurdler from Greece, to pass it to Jane Evans. Ali's appearance was kept a secret until he appeared to light the cauldron.

Georgia State University took ownership of the property on January 1, 2017 and transformed the stadium into a football venue where the Panthers played their first home game on Aug. 31, 2017.

Georgia State University is currently working with Carter and Associates to develop the 70-acre plot of land that includes and surrounds Georgia State Stadium. Restaurants along Georgia Avenue. recently opened last summer and with new apartments across the street from the stadium, the area is thriving like before. In the near future, a Convocation Center will be built just north of the property to host graduations along with Georgia State basketball games. A new baseball stadium is also in the works on the ground that once housed Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium.

For more information about Saturday's race, fans can visit atlanta2020trials.com