Editing 1996 Summer Olympics (section)

==Bidding process==
{{Main|Bids for the 1996 Summer Olympics}}
Atlanta was selected on September 18, 1990, in [[Tokyo, Japan]], over Athens, Belgrade, Manchester, Melbourne, and Toronto at the [[IOC Session|96th IOC Session]]. The city entered the competition as a [[dark horse]], being up against stiff competition.<ref name=Payne>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vqtLnCWHDX0C&pg=PA91 |title=Olympic turnaround: how the Olympic Games stepped back from the brink of Extinction to Become the Best Known Brand|first=Michael|last=Payne|isbn=0-275-99030-3|location=Westport, Ct.|publisher=Praeger Publishers|year=2006}}</ref> The US media also criticized Atlanta as a second-tier city and complained of [[Georgia (U.S. state)|Georgia]]'s [[Georgia in the American Civil War|Confederate history]]. However, the IOC Evaluation Commission ranked Atlanta's infrastructure and facilities the highest, while IOC members said that it could guarantee large television revenues similar to the success of the [[1984 Summer Olympics]] in [[Los Angeles]], the most recent Olympics in the United States.<ref name=NewYorkTimes90/> Additionally, former US ambassador to the UN and Atlanta mayor [[Andrew Young]] touted Atlanta's civil rights history and reputation for racial harmony. Young also wanted to showcase a reformed [[Southern United States|American South]]. The strong economy of Atlanta and improved race relations in the South helped to impress the IOC officials. [[The Coca-Cola Company|Coca-Cola]], a long-standing partner of the Olympics, was also a strong advocate to bring the Games to its hometown.<ref name="Atlanta 1996">{{cite book|last=Maloney|first=Larry|title=Encyclopedia of the Modern Olympic Movement|editor=Finding, John E. |editor2=Pelle, Kimberly D. |publisher=Greenwood Publishing Group|year=2004|pages=235–6|chapter=Atlanta 1996|isbn=9780313322785|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QmXi_-Jujj0C&q=Atlanta+Athens+IOC+bid&pg=PA236|access-date=September 23, 2008}}</ref> The Atlanta Committee for the Olympic Games (ACOG) also proposed a substantial revenue-sharing with the IOC, USOC, and other NOCs.<ref name="Atlanta 1996"/> Atlanta's main rivals were Toronto, whose front-running bid that began in 1986 had chances to succeed after Canada had held a successful [[1988 Winter Olympics]] in Calgary, and Melbourne, Australia, who hosted the [[1956 Summer Olympics]] and after [[Brisbane, Australia]]'s failed bid for the 1992 games (which were awarded to [[Barcelona]]) and prior to [[Sydney, Australia]]'s successful [[2000 Summer Olympics]] bid. This would be Toronto's fourth failed attempt since 1960 (tried in 1960, 1964, and 1976, but was defeated by Rome, Tokyo and Montreal).<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.thestar.com/news/gta/2015/07/24/toronto-has-made-5-attempts-to-host-the-olympics-could-the-sixth-be-the-winner.html|title=Toronto has made 5 attempts to host the Olympics. Could the sixth be the winner?|first=Peter|last=Edwards|date=July 24, 2015|newspaper=Toronto Star}}</ref>

[[Greece]], the home of the [[ancient Olympic Games|ancient]] and [[1896 Summer Olympics|first modern Olympics]], was considered by many observers the "natural choice" for the Centennial Games,<ref name=NewYorkTimes90>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1990/09/19/sports/atlanta-selected-over-athens-for-1996-olympics.html?sec=&spon=&pagewanted=2&pagewanted=print|title=Atlanta Selected Over Athens for 1996 Olympics|last=Weisman|first=Steven R.|date=September 19, 1990|work=The New York Times|access-date=September 23, 2008}}</ref><ref name="Atlanta 1996"/> due to its "divine right" in history.<ref name="Athens">{{cite news|title='96 Olympic site in photo finish|last=Yates|first=Ronald E.|date=September 17, 1990|page=13|newspaper=Chicago Tribune}}</ref> Athens bid chairman Spyros Metaxas gave repeated warnings to the IOC and demanded to give them the games to mark the centennial, saying "You don't hold a 100th birthday in someone else's home. The Centenary Games should be held in Athens."<ref name="Athens"/> He also warned that "if we don't get the Olympics in 1996 we will never bid again to host them."<ref>{{cite news|title=Greek Warning On Olympic Bid|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1990/08/23/sports/greek-warning-on-olympic-bid.html|date=August 23, 1990|agency=Associated Press|newspaper=The New York Times|page=B12}}</ref>

However, the Athens bid was described as "arrogant and poorly prepared," being regarded as "not being up to the task of coping with the modern and risk-prone extravaganza" of the current Games. Athens faced numerous obstacles, including "political instability, potential security problems, air pollution, traffic congestion and the fact that it would have to spend about US$3&nbsp;billion to improve its infrastructure of airports, roads, rail lines and other amenities."<ref name=NewYorkTimes90/><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1997/08/03/sports/athens-pins-olympic-bid-to-world-meet.html?pagewanted=print|title=Athens Pins Olympic Bid to World Meet|last=Longman|first=Jere|date=August 3, 1997|work=The New York Times|access-date=September 23, 2008}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=1996 Olympic Games|url=http://www.georgiaencyclopedia.org/nge/Article.jsp?id=h-2042|publisher=Georgia Encyclopedia|access-date=February 24, 2013}}</ref> Athens would later be selected to host the [[2004 Summer Olympics]] seven years later on September 5, 1997.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1997/09/06/sports/athens-wins-a-vote-for-tradition-and-the-2004-olympics.html?pagewanted=print|title=Athens Wins a Vote for Tradition, and the 2004 Olympics|date=6 September 1997|first=Jere|last=Longman|newspaper=The New York Times| access-date=25 May 2010 }}</ref>

{| class="wikitable"
|+ 1996 Summer Olympics bidding results<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.aldaver.com/votes.html |title=IOC Vote History |website=www.aldaver.com |access-date=June 10, 2008 |archive-date=May 25, 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080525070757/http://www.aldaver.com/votes.html |url-status=usurped }}</ref>
|-
! rowspan=2 | City
! rowspan=2 | Country
! colspan=5 style="background:silver;"| Round
|-
! style="background:silver;"| 1
! style="background:silver;"| 2
! style="background:silver;"| 3
! style="background:silver;"| 4
! style="background:silver;"| 5
|-
||[[Atlanta]]|| {{flag|United States}} || style="text-align:center;"|19|| style="text-align:center;"|20|| style="text-align:center;"|'''26'''|| style="text-align:center;"|'''34'''|| style="text-align:center;"|'''51'''
|-
||[[Athens]]|| {{flag|Greece}} || style="text-align:center;"|'''23'''|| style="text-align:center;"|'''23'''|| style="text-align:center;"|'''26'''|| style="text-align:center;"|30|| style="text-align:center;"|35
|-
||[[Toronto]]|| {{flag|Canada}} || style="text-align:center;"|14|| style="text-align:center;"|17|| style="text-align:center;"|18|| style="text-align:center;"|22|| style="text-align:center;"|—
|-
||[[Melbourne]]|| {{flag|Australia}} || style="text-align:center;"|12|| style="text-align:center;"|21|| style="text-align:center;"|16|| style="text-align:center;"|—|| style="text-align:center;"|—
|-
||[[Manchester]]|| {{flag|Great Britain}} || style="text-align:center;"|11|| style="text-align:center;"|5|| style="text-align:center;"|—|| style="text-align:center;"|—|| style="text-align:center;"|—
|-
||[[Belgrade]]|| {{flag|SFR Yugoslavia}}<ref>The Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia was still in existence at the time of bidding for the 1996 Olympics, although it would cease to exist by the time of the 1996 Summer Olympic games</ref> || style="text-align:center;"|7|| style="text-align:center;"|—|| style="text-align:center;"|—|| style="text-align:center;"|—|| style="text-align:center;"|—
|}