Centennial Olympic Games Anniversary Still Holds Meaning at Georgia State

Monday, July 19, will mark the 25^th Anniversary of the 1996 Centennial Olympic Games in Atlanta. For Georgia State, the Olympics marked a huge change for the university and one that can still be felt today.

The impact the Olympics in Atlanta had on Georgia State, Center Parc Stadium (formerly Turner Field, and Centennial Olympic Stadium during the 1996 games), as well as on the GSU Sports Arena was quite a story that left lasting footprints.

Georgia State took ownership of the stadium in January 2017. During the Olympics, the stadium hosted both the Opening and Closing Ceremonies, as well as track & field. The track & field warm-up facility for the games remains right down the street from the stadium.

The entire Athletics Neighborhood that Georgia State is currently constructing has an Olympics feel to it. The cauldron from the Centennial Games draws a shadow over both the new Convocation Center as well as the property where Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium used to stand. That property will soon become Georgia State's baseball and softball complex on the same site Cuba won the gold and the United States earned the bronze 25 years ago.

Fifteen Olympic medals were officially awarded in the Sports Arena on Aug. 1, 1996, those being the five gold, silver, and bronze medals for badminton competition.

History will document that the Marathon race, run on the last day of the Olympics on Aug. 4, ran right past both sides of the Sports Arena, heading down Piedmont Avenue on the way from Olympic Stadium, then heading back up Courtland Street on a path back into the stadium. Technically then, Georgia State is the only college campus in America to have the Olympics run through its "campus." The marathon ran past the Rec Center, freshman dorms, and turned right on Auburn Avenue.

Georgia State students became the first occupants of the Olympic Village dorms when the university took over facility upon the completion of the games. Georgia State later sold those dorms to build the Commons housing units.

As Georgia State has built a nationally recognized beach volleyball program, it is only fitting that the sport made its Olympic debut in Atlanta in 1996. Those events were held in Clayton County, in Jonesboro, south of the city.

Atlanta Olympic Committee CEO Billy Payne visited the campus in 1995 to help promote the event and sell bricks to the nearby Centennial Olympic Park. There is another connection to the university: One of Georgia State first locations — the now demolished Sheltering Arms building at 223 Walton St.— was in the area where the Centennial Olympic Park now sits.

Olympic signage was present all over the outside and inside of the building. A sign and plaque on the inside of the Sports Arena remains a constant after 25 years.

Georgia State shut down classes that summer to allow for all the activities. Olympic badges were issued for access as the Olympics completely took over the building. One of the few who actually "stayed" was former Sports Information Director Martin Harmon, who was press venue chief with the badminton competition and media, along with Peter O'Reilly, the assistant venue chief. The pair even slept on couches in the SID offices.

Former Recreation Department staffer John Krafka was hired to do the public addresses for the event, an unenviable task with all the international names. Many other staffers assisted in many ways with the Olympics. Sherman Day, former Director of Athletics, was managing director of Legacy and Olympic Programs for the Atlanta Committee for the Olympic Games (1992-1996).

The Olympics officially arrived in Atlanta with the Opening Ceremonies on July 19, while badminton competition in the Sports Arena took place from July 24-Aug. 1 before the Closing Ceremonies on Aug. 4. Badminton was making its second appearance on the international stage after debuting in 1992.

Among the celebrities who watched the competition in the Sports Arena was former President and Mrs. Jimmy Carter; then-President's Bill Clinton's first daughter, Chelsea Clinton; Princess Anne of England, the daughter of current Queen Elizabeth and sister of Prince Charles; and movie star Paul Newman.

Listen to the Panther Insider podcast with the Voice of the Panthers Dave Cohen as he talks about Georgia State's involvement and the legacy of the 1996 Summer Olympic Games with guests Tom Lewis, former vice president and senior advisor to three presidents while at Georgia State, and Martin Harmon, who served as the venue press chief at the Sports Arena.
https://georgiastatesports.com/news/2021/7/20/athletics-panther-insider-podcast-driven-by-ford-episode-73-olympics-edition.aspx?fbclid=IwAR0YqpRg5rgPkBF5IvqtO4Gphv52EL35Igug_2yBtUlRZke761hIN5AWPuU

Thank you to former Assistant A.D. Charlie Taylor for contributions to this story.

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