Atlanta celebrates the Olympics + 10

[richard]

Mayor Shirley Franklin proclaimed last Saturday, July 15, another “great opening day for Atlanta,” as a roll call of dignitaries and volunteers from Atlanta’s 1996 Olympic Games gathered for the grand opening of the Centennial Olympic Games Museum at the Atlanta History Center.

With the heat reaching into the 90s, Billy Payne, the man who had the dream of bringing the Olympics to Atlanta and the most honored during the morning ceremonies, reminded folks he was the one that told the world it is 75 degrees in Atlanta in the summer. “It is 75 degrees,” he proclaimed once again.

Kicking off a day of celebration for the city and its corps of thousands of volunteers who made the Olympics possible, Mayor Franklin told those gathered at the History Center on West Paces Ferry Road, “This is a dream that started with one person, grew to nine and ended up being the dream of our entire community around the Southeast. We want to say a big thank you to Billy Payne and all the others that made this possible.”

Franklin acknowledged the ground work done by former Atlanta mayors Sam Massell, who was in the audience, Maynard Jackson and Andrew Young, who served as co-chair for the Olympics but was ill and could not attend the event last Saturday.

“We hope that the IOC (International Olympic Committee) members and USOC (U.S. Olympic Committee) members who are with us today will remember the grandness and the humanity of the games in Atlanta,” Franklin said, “and that we will experience another chance to host the games so that another generation can be instilled with the incredible international friendship, connection, unity and love that comes as part of being the host city to the Olympics.”

Franklin introduced Payne, who she told the audience “came up with the idea in church.”

“As a community we came together at the time of our Olympic Games,” Payne recalled. “We embraced a wonderful idea. We wanted desperately to welcome all of our five million visitors and we wanted to show them the reality of southern hospitality. Ladies and gentlemen, you deserve a gold medal for that performance.”

Payne introduced Dick Ebersol, chairman of NPB Universal Sports and Olympics, who he said presented Atlanta visually to the world and lobbied him to select Muhammad Ali to light the Olympic torch at Atlanta’s opening ceremonies.

Ebersol said one important person was missing from Saturday’s event. “Where is Izzy?” he asked. But he said the question was unfair, since he has Izzy in his office in New York.

Eberson said the two lasting legacies of the Atlanta Olympic Games are first that the committee of nine were the perfect example of the Olympic spirit and included 2 women, which was unheard of at that time. But he said the most important legacy of the Atlanta games was that those games led to the incredible rise to equality of women’s sports in the Olympics. “They were born to full glory in Atlanta,” he said, adding that changed the importance of women’s sports in the U.S. “This is a legacy that will outlive all of us.”

Olympians Carl Lewis, who won his last medal in Atlanta, and swimmer Janet Evans also were on the program, along with Bob Ctvrtlik, member of the IOC, Jim Scherr, CEO of the USOC, and Sheffield Hale, chair of gthe Atlanta Historical Society. The program was emceed by Jim Bruns, president and CEO of the Atlanta Historical Society.

Recalling her experiences at the Atlanta Olympic Games, Janet Evans told Payne, “It was 75 degrees every day during the Olympics, in the swimming pool.”

She said she came to the Olympics thinking she wanted to win. But during the experience of the Atlanta opening ceremonies, she realized “The Olympics aren’t about winning. The Olympics aren’t about gold medals,” she said. “The Olympics are about volunteerism, its about bringing cities, countries and nations together in the spirit of sports.” She thanked Atlanta for the experience.

Reliving that experience is what last Saturday’s celebration and the Atlanta Centennial Olympic Museum were all about. During the afternoon, hundreds streamed through the museum viewing displays of Olympic torches from the games, uniforms worn by athletes and volunteers, an interactive Olympic trivia game, a display of Izzy and much more. That is the 6,000 square-foot main floor. Upstairs in 3,000 square feet is the interactive Sports Lab, where visitors can test their skills in Olympic events.

Later on Saturday, thousands converged on Centennial Olympic Park in downtown Atlanta to try to recapture the pride and enthusiasm they felt during the 1996 Olympic Games—in the place that was the gathering spot for visitors from all nations around the world.


Source
BY JOHN SCHAFFNER
the-stories.com

Image 1: Cutting the ribbon to open the Olympic Museum are, left to right, NBC’s Dick Ebersol, IOC member Bob Ctvrtlik, Historical Society Chair Sheffield Hale, Olympian Carl Lewis, Billy Payne, Olympian Janet Evans, NBC’s Bob Costas and Mayor Shirley Franklin.
Phil Mosier - The Story
Image 2: The dedication of the Olympics Museum began much like the Olympic Games, with a presentation of the flags of the nations, presented by the Boys and Girls Clubs of Atlanta.
Phil Mosier - The Story
Image 3: Children and adults frolicked in the fountain at Centennial Olympic Park at the beginning of Saturday evening’s Olympic commemorative events.
Phil Mosier - The Story