Interesting Sports Facts and Firsts for the 1996 Olympic Games
International federations, the International Olympic Committee and The Atlanta Committee for the Olympic Games have agreed on a number of changes and advances that affect the competitions. Following are a few examples, by sport. (This is not a comprehensive list.)
Aquatics
- For the first time, all aquatic disciplines --
swimming,
diving,
synchronized swimming and
water polo -- will be held at the same venue.
- The 1996 Olympic Games mark the first time the women's 4 X 200m freestyle relay is included in the Games programme, making the total number of men's and women's events equal for the first time.
- Team competition replaces solo and duet in synchronized swimming.
- The largest number of women athletes ever will compete in the 1996 Olympic Games.
- Women will compete in the triple jump for the first time in Olympic history.
- The women's 5,000m replaces the 3,000m.
- All athletes will be pre-qualified and the number of athletes will be limited to 64 for both men and women.
- Mixed doubles event makes its Olympic Games debut in 1996.
- The women's team total has been increased from 8 to 12.
- For the first time, the slalom events will take place in a natural setting -- on the Ocoee River in the Cherokee National Forest in Tennessee.
- The sprint event will be held in a natural setting -- Lake Lanier -- for the first time since the 1984 Games.
- The slalom medals will be the only 1996 Olympic Games medals awarded outside Georgia.
- Mountain bike racing makes its Olympic debut in 1996.
- Track cycling
will take place on the sport's first portable track; the revolutionary new surface dries in eight minutes. The wood of the track will be covered with a smooth but slip-resistant resin called "Teak Skidguard" which is produced in the United States and is currently used on boats. Athletes tested the track for the first time during the Atlanta Cycling Invitational in October 1995.
- The 1996 Games will be the first time in 20 years that all three equestrian
disciplines -- jumping, dressage and three day event -- will be held at a single venue.
- The three day event will be divided into team and individual, and the individual final of the dressage event will be the musical freestyle test -- both firsts for the sport.
- Uniforms and equipment have been modified to make the event more telegenic -- athlete's faces will be more visible and scoring will be more obvious.
- Two new women's events, the women's epée individual and women's epée team have been added to Olympic competition for 1996.
- An eight-team women's tournament makes its Olympic debut.
- 1996 will be the first time a wild card is used in the Olympic Games, allowing each country in men's competition to have three players over the age of 23. Previously, all had to be 23 or younger. The result will be participation by more top World Cup and international players than ever before.
- For the first time, podium training for artistic gymnastics
is ticketed and open to the public -- increasing spectator access to this high-demand discipline.
- The 1996 Games venue offers a record capacity for artistic gymnastics; nearly three times the venue capacity in the 1992 Games.
- A Gala for artistic gymnastics has been added to the Olympic programme, presenting all Olympic Games medalists in one session.
- Group competition has been added to rhythmic gymnastics.
- Men's finals will be held in the Georgia Dome -- creating the largest spectator capacity ever for this sport in Olympic competition.
- The 1996 Olympic Games will be the first Games to hold all five modern pentathlon
events on a single day.
- For the first time, lightweight events will be on the Olympic programme, replacing three "regular" events.
- New starting system and finish line debuted during the USRowing National Championships (AgSo start).
- For the first time, Olympic rowing
athletes will stay in the main Olympic Village, because of the close proximity of Lake Lanier.
- Men's double trap and women's double trap have been added to the Olympic programme, replacing mixed event.
- Women will have their own clay target event.
- This sport will make its Olympic debut in 1996 with 8 women's teams.
- Beach volleyball
makes its Olympic debut in 1996.
- For the first time, an equal number of men's and women's teams (12) will compete in the indoor competition.
- The new weight categories, set in 1993, will be used at the Olympic Games for the first time.
- During the 1996 Games, two races will be held each day rather than one.
Olympic Factoid |
An estimated 5.3 million visted Centennial Olympic Park between opening day - 13 July - and closing day - 4 August, making the park the most single most visited Olympic site during the Games. |