Atlanta 1996

My earliest Olympic memories are gold medal decathlete Bruce Jenner on Wheaties boxes in 1976 and although I did not watch the USA men's hockey team or anything at the 1980 winter Olympics in Lake Placid, NY, I do remember the hype as the USA men's hockey team beat the USSR 4-3 in an unlikely finish. I started watching the Olympic summer games in 1984 and have watched every Olympics since then. One of the biggest Olympic memories is the women's 3000M race in track and field at the 1984 summer games in Los Angeles. Zola Budd(who is 3 days older than me) and Mary Decker Slaney collided at the 5 minute mark sending Mary Slaney tumbling to the ground in agony. Zola Budd, of South Africa but who later ran for Britain kept going. Zola Budd who ran barefoot was first disqualified then reinstated. Zola did not win, instead she faded to 6th place. Mary Decker Slaney was carried off the track in tears. This memory is what started it all for me. My favorite summer Olympic sports are Track and Field, Volleyball, Beach Volleyball, Basketball, Gymnastics, Swimming and Weightlifting.

In April 1994 I moved to Atlanta from my hometown of Dayton, Ohio in anticipation of working at the Olympics in a paid capacity. I did have one interview. It was at the inforum. I was not chosen. So I turned to volunteering. I was working at Coca Cola Olympic city from their opening in May 1996 until a week before the games.

I was selected to volunteer at the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta as a Press Steward and Mixed Zone Marshall. I was one of the 80,000 volunteers who would stage the 1996 Atlanta games.

About a month before the games on June 13, 1996 I was invited to pick up my uniform and accreditation badge. I was given a uniform consisting of pants, shoes, 3 shirts, a hat, belt, swatch watch and fanny pack. Hearing how much money I could get I sold 2 of my shirts to a guy from England for $20 each during the games. I sold my hat for $40. I was hearing fifteen hundred for a uniform early on so I proceeded to sell some of my uniform. Maybe not the best idea!

On June 22, 1996 I went to venue orientation at the Georgia World Congress Center. On July 13, 1996 I attended the opening of Centennial Olympic Park. I got to see my brick which cost 35 dollars. There are about 600,000 bricks in the park, each grouped with a number. My brick is in 54 light. The park looks quite different today because after the Olympics the park was shut down for remodeling. It was closed until March 1998 when I attended the grand re-opening of the park which was a concert by Sister Hazel and Chumbawamba. All of the temporary exhibits were removed and there is a lot of green space areas with the fountains, and names carved into it. Most names were Olympic champions, a statute of Billy Payne and a memorial tribute to the victims of the bombing of Centennial Park.

On July 17, 1996 I attended the Opening Ceremony dress rehearsal at the Olympic stadium. I got chills from watching the performance as watching the opening ceremony live and is hundreds of times better than watching it on TV. It rained that day so I did not take any pictures. The only thing that was missing from this rehearsal was the parade of nations. To me, it was a performance of a lifetime!

The torch run took place through the streets of Atlanta on July 18, 1996 as I was able to get some good pictures of the torch procession as it passed by me at the Dunwoody Place shopping center.

Later that day I stopped on I-75 to take pictures of the Olympic stadium. I was stopped by officers and told to move on but I had stopped near a gated area and forced my way through the gate to get pictures of the torch, and outside the Olympic stadium. The news that night mentioned how tight security was at the Olympics but I was able to sneak through a fence and see it for myself.

During the games I handed out results to International Journalists, worked press conferences and was a liason between the athlete and media after competition. If the athlete did not want to give an interview I would shield them from the media. The Mixed Zone is the area where the athlete can talk to the media. I was a Mixed Zone Marshall for Wrestling and Table Tennis.

I was allowed to attend the press conference of the women's gymnastics team after they won the gold. Unfortunately I did not have a camera to take pictures of this great event. It was my biggest regret. The next day I started taking pictures of all events I worked. I was able to capture two world records in weightlifting while working the games. I also was able to attend the men's basketball gold medal dream team press conference and got some great photos.

Transportation for the games in 1996 was very hectic. I had to catch shuttle busses or park at a MARTA station to get to the games. Every day I would hear from the animated voice Omni, Dome, Georgia World Congress Center. I knew that was my cue to get off MARTA.

I worked 12 days and was given time off so I could attend a USA women's volleyball match vs. The Netherlands on July 22.

I attended track and field events on July 27 which was hours after the tragedy at Centennial Olympic Park. I was sleeping and was awoken by a call from my girlfriend's(at that time) family. It happened around 1:20am on July 27. I watched a few hours of coverage before getting some rest. Nobody knew if the Olympics would even continue at first but ACOG said the games would continue.
I stood in line for hours to get through enhanced security just to get into the Olympic stadium. I watched Donovan Bailey of Canada set a world record in the men's 100 meter race at 9.84 seconds. The race took 15 minutes to start as there were three false starts. Linford Christie of Great Britain was disqualified. I also watched the great women's 100M final and Michael Johnson win his heat in the 400M. His golden shoes so noticeable! The session I attended was over by 11pm.

At the closing ceremony of the Atlanta games IOC president Juan Antonio Samaranch said the games were "most exceptional". This was hurtful to ACOG organizers but the reality is that the games were quite commercial. There were vendors everywhere. Also there were transportation glitches and result glitches that hampered the games reputation. Mr. Samaranch always says these were the best games ever, not the Atlanta games according to the IOC.

This overall was a great Olympics experience which culminated on August 10, 1996 when I attended a Olympic games Staff Recognition Celebration at Centennial Olympic Park. I was able to get games CEO Billy Payne's autograph.

I also volunteered at the 1996 Paralympic games held in Atlanta. They needed 12,000 volunteers. I volunteered for 5 days at the Olympic Stadium setting up the track and being a wheelchair handler for athletes. Organization wasn't as good as the Olympics though. I traded my hat for a russian pin. About a year later I found out my picture was published in a commemorative book. I couldn't believe it.