The 96 Effect

As crazy as it sounds, today marks the 25th anniversary of the start of the Atlanta Olympics.  How was that 25 years ago already?!  Yet, it also feels like it was a lifetime ago!  Because there's no denying the impact that the Atlanta Games had and is still being felt today.

The biggest impact was the performance of the American women.  As the Peacock documentary "The 96 Effect" pointed out, that was the first generation of female athletes who felt the full benefit of Title IX.  So their success wasn't an accident and shouldn't have been a surprise.  Beyond that, though, 1996 was just the beginning.  The United States has been the dominant force in women's soccer, basketball, softball and gymnastics ever since.

And they had no idea how big those sports would become, either.  The women's soccer gold medal game sold out the University of Georgia's football stadium.  As it turns out, that was nothing.  When the Women's World Cup was in the U.S. three years later, it was NFL stadiums they were selling out...for an entire month!  There were 100,000 people at the Rose Bowl for the final!

A dominant run in women's basketball, meanwhile, led to the launch of not one, but two professional leagues!  And the WNBA isn't just still going, it's thriving!  What's even more incredible is that today's WNBA stars either don't or barely remember a world without a WNBA.  All because of the 1996 Olympic team, whose marquee members became the WNBA's first stars.

In fact, almost every memory of the Atlanta Olympics that immediately comes to mind involves American women.  Sure, there were plenty of memorable Olympic moments authored by women before Atlanta, but I can't remember there being so many from a single Games.  From the soccer team to Dot Richardson's energy to Kerri Strug's vault, which is perhaps Atlanta's signature competition moment.

Softball and women's soccer weren't the only sports that made their Olympic debuts in Atlanta, either.  Beach volleyball did, too.  It's crazy to think that beach volleyball is still so new to the Olympic program, yet it has become one of the signature sports.  Kind of like snowboarding at the Winter Olympics (which debuted two years later), beach volleyball just fits in so perfectly that it feels like it's been there all along.

Unfortunately, the celebration was briefly marred by tragedy when a bomb erupted in Centennial Olympic Park over the middle weekend.  The Games went on, though, and there were plenty of other memorable performances in store, as the Olympic spirit prevailed.

Michael Johnson immediately comes to mind.  Usain Bolt before Usain Bolt, Johnson pulled off the never-before-or-since done 200-400 double, capping it off with an electrifying world record in the 200!  Carl Lewis won his fourth straight Olympic long jump title for his ninth career gold medal.  The former tied a record that a certain American swimmer matched in Rio.

Andre Agassi won the gold medal in tennis.  It was the first time a former Grand Slam champion won the men's tournament, legitimizing tennis as an Olympic sport.  Lindsay Davenport won the women's gold medal.  It was the biggest win of her career at the time.  Two years later, she'd be No. 1 in the world.

It was also a transitional Games.  Lewis and Jackie Joyner-Kersee were two of the biggest athletes of the 1980s.  Janet Evans, a breakout star in 1988, was so popular that she was chosen as the second-to-last torch bearer before Muhammad Ali.  It was her last Olympics, too.  Evans now works for the LA 28 organizing committee.  Dan O'Brien, meanwhile, is now best known as a TV commentator.  But in Atlanta, he was crowned "The World's Greatest Athlete" as winner of the decathlon.

Atlanta also saw the Olympic debut of 24 countries, 11 of which were former Soviet republics, including one that became a powerhouse--Russia.  It was also the first time that South Africa competed under its own flag at an Olympics since 1960.  And, with no more Soviet Union or East Germany, the U.S. finished atop the medal table for the first time at a fully-attended Olympics since 1968.  That's been the expectation at the Olympics ever since.

While Atlanta is still one of the randomest Olympic host cities ever, they actually left an example that future host cities followed.  A number of events were held at the Georgia World Congress Center.  Holding several sports in a large convention hall is a model that's been followed ever since.  Centennial Olympic Stadium became the Braves' Turner Field (and was very obviously a baseball stadium during the Olympics).  What's amazing is the Braves only spent 20 years there before leaving for Truist Park, with Centennial Olympic Stadium now on its third life as Georgia State's football stadium.

If there's one enduring image of the Atlanta Olympics, though, it's Muhammad Ali lighting the cauldron.  Dick Enberg let out perhaps his biggest "Oh My!" ever when he saw The Greatest come out of the darkness, get the torch from Janet Evans, and send the Olympic flame on its way to the cauldron.  It didn't have the wow factor of 1992's flaming arrow or 2000's waterfall, but it was awe-inspiring nonetheless.  Muhammad Ali's mere presence was enough!

Sydney's Olympics four years later were so spectacular that the Atlanta Games sometimes get lost in the shuffle.  They'll never be forgotten, though.  Because Atlanta's Olympic legacy endures and is still going strong 25 years later!