How Atlanta Landed the 1996 Olympic Games: The Full Story

Atlanta’s transformation into an international city is closely tied to one momentous event: winning the bid to host the 1996 Summer Olympic Games. If you live in Atlanta, visit often, or are just curious about the city’s history, understanding how Atlanta got the Olympics explains a lot about why the city looks and functions the way it does today.

Below is a clear, step-by-step look at how Atlanta secured the Games, who made it happen, and how you can still see evidence of that Olympic push all over the city.

The Big Picture: Why the Olympics Came to Atlanta

Atlanta was awarded the 1996 Summer Olympics by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) in 1990. At the time, many people assumed more famous cities like Athens or Toronto would win. Atlanta wasn’t an obvious favorite internationally, but it had several powerful advantages:

• A well-organized bid team led by civic and business leaders
• Strong corporate support, especially from companies headquartered here
• A convincing message that Atlanta represented the “New South” – diverse, modern, and growing
• A promise of major transportation and infrastructure improvements

In other words, Atlanta got the Olympics because it outworked and out-organized the competition, sold a compelling vision, and had the local political and business backing to make that vision feel realistic.

Who Led the Effort? Atlanta’s Olympic Power Team

Billy Payne and the birth of the idea

The modern Olympic story in Atlanta starts with Billy Payne, a local lawyer and real estate developer. In the early 1980s, he began pushing the idea that Atlanta could and should host the Olympics.

Payne:

• Formed a group that became the Atlanta Committee for the Olympic Games (ACOG)
• Spent years building support among city officials, business leaders, and community groups
• Helped frame the Olympics as good for the region, not just for downtown

For Atlanta residents, Payne’s work is one reason you now see Centennial Olympic Park and the Olympic rings near downtown – these massive changes started as one person’s ambitious pitch.

Mayor Maynard Jackson and city leadership

Atlanta’s political leadership, especially Mayor Maynard Jackson, played a crucial role. City Hall had to be fully committed to:

• Providing city services, security, and infrastructure upgrades
• Backing the huge investment in venues, roads, and public spaces
• Supporting the idea that Atlanta was ready to be a global host city

From an Atlanta perspective, this meant an unusual level of cooperation between public officials and private corporations, something that still shapes how big projects are handled in the city today.

Corporate Atlanta: Coca-Cola and others

Atlanta’s bid would not have succeeded without its corporate community, including:

• The Coca-Cola Company, headquartered in Downtown/Midtown Atlanta
• Major businesses based in or around the city
• Local banks, law firms, and media companies

These organizations provided funding, marketing support, and international connections. If you’ve ever noticed how many big brand headquarters are clustered around Midtown and Buckhead, that same corporate strength helped sell Atlanta as a serious Olympic contender.

The Official Bid: How Atlanta Competed Against Other Cities

Building the case to the IOC

To get the Olympics, Atlanta had to persuade the International Olympic Committee (IOC) that it could successfully host the 1996 Games. The city’s bid focused on several major themes:

• Modern infrastructure: Hartsfield (now Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport) was already a major air hub, making it easy to bring in athletes, officials, and visitors.
• Existing sports facilities: Atlanta and nearby communities in Georgia already had stadiums, arenas, and campuses that could be upgraded.
• Regional cooperation: The bid highlighted venues across metro Atlanta and the state, not just in the city center.
• Diversity and hospitality: Atlanta presented itself as a welcoming, multicultural city that reflected the changing face of the United States.

From a local perspective, the bid essentially promised to fast-track improvements that Atlantans had wanted for years: better roads, more parks, and new sports and cultural venues.

Beating out Athens and other rivals

For the Centennial Olympic Games (marking 100 years since the first modern Olympics in Athens in 1896), many observers expected Athens, Greece to be the sentimental favorite.

Yet in 1990, after presentations and evaluations, the IOC selected Atlanta over Athens, Toronto, Melbourne, Manchester, and Belgrade.

Why Atlanta won instead of Athens:

• A more detailed financing plan with strong corporate backing
• Assurances about security, transportation, and accommodations
• A narrative that the Olympics should look forward to the future, not only back to their origins

If you’re in Atlanta, the result of that vote is visible every day in the built environment downtown, along North Avenue, Tech Square, and around Georgia Tech and Georgia State University.

What Atlanta Promised to Deliver

Atlanta’s pitch wasn’t only about prestige. The city made specific, concrete promises that appealed to both residents and Olympic officials.

Major infrastructure upgrades

Hosting the Olympics helped speed up projects such as:

• Road and highway improvements around downtown and surrounding neighborhoods
• Enhancements to MARTA rail and bus systems to handle large crowds
• Expansion and modernization around Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport

These upgrades were framed as improvements that would last long after the Games, which is one reason the bid got strong local and state support.

New and renovated sports venues

Atlanta promised several major facilities, many of which locals still know well:

• Centennial Olympic Stadium – later converted into Turner Field, now Georgia State University’s Center Parc Stadium
• Upgrades to existing venues on the Georgia Tech campus and other local college facilities
• Temporary and permanent venues across metro Atlanta and the state for events like rowing, equestrian, and soccer

If you attend games or events at some of these sites today, you’re still using the Olympic-era infrastructure that was part of that original promise.

A global showcase for the “New South”

Atlanta emphasized its role as a civil rights hub and a symbol of modern Southern progress. The bid leaned on:

• The legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., whose birth home and tomb are in the Sweet Auburn neighborhood
• The city’s reputation as an economic engine of the South
• A growing international community and cultural scene

For Atlantans, this meant the Olympics were also about rebranding the city on the world stage, not just putting on sporting events.

How Winning the Olympics Changed Atlanta

Whether you were here in 1996 or moved later, you can still feel how the Games reshaped the city.

Centennial Olympic Park and downtown redevelopment

One of the clearest results of Atlanta getting the Olympics is Centennial Olympic Park in downtown.

Before the Games, much of that area consisted of parking lots and underused land. The Olympics turned it into:

• A large public park with fountains, green space, and the iconic Fountain of Rings
• A focal point for nearby attractions like the Georgia World Congress Center, CNN Center, and later the Georgia Aquarium and World of Coca-Cola

Today, locals use the park for:

• Festivals and concerts
• Family outings and tourist visits
• Everyday recreation in the heart of downtown

If you walk through that area, you’re walking through one of the most direct legacies of how and why Atlanta got the Olympics.

Transportation and city layout

To prepare for the Games, Atlanta:

• Streamlined routes into and around downtown
• Improved signage, traffic patterns, and MARTA access
• Increased coordination among city, county, and state transportation agencies

While traffic is still a challenge, some of the core road and transit patterns Atlantans rely on today were shaped or accelerated by Olympic planning.

Housing, campuses, and neighborhoods

The Olympic push also affected:

• Georgia Tech and Georgia State University, which gained facilities and attention that helped them expand as urban campuses
• New and renovated student housing and residences, some originally built or upgraded as athlete housing
• Nearby neighborhoods that saw investment, construction, and, in some areas, long-term changes in property values and demographics

If you live near Midtown, Downtown, or around North Avenue, you may notice a mix of older and newer structures that date back to this Olympic era of fast-paced development.

Why Atlanta Wanted the Olympics So Badly

From the city’s perspective, the Olympics were more than a two-week sporting event. Key goals included:

• Economic development: Attracting new companies, tourists, and long-term investment
• International visibility: Putting Atlanta on the map alongside global cities
• Civic pride: Uniting residents around a major shared project
• Urban improvement: Securing funding and political will for projects that might otherwise take decades

For people living in Atlanta, this meant several years of construction, planning, and disruption, followed by long-term benefits in certain areas of the city.

What Atlantans Still See and Use Today

If you’re in Atlanta and want to connect with the city’s Olympic history, there are several everyday touchpoints:

Walking around downtown or riding MARTA near Five Points or Peachtree Center, it’s easy to forget that much of this environment was significantly influenced—or sped up—by the Olympic decision made back in 1990.

Key Takeaways for Someone in Atlanta Today

If you’re trying to understand how Atlanta got the Olympics and why it matters to you now, these are the main points:

• Persistent local leadership – People like Billy Payne and Mayor Maynard Jackson pushed hard, organized effectively, and never dropped the idea.
• Public–private collaboration – City government, the State of Georgia, and major corporations worked together on funding, planning, and international outreach.
• A compelling story – Atlanta sold itself as the forward-looking, diverse “New South,” which resonated with Olympic decision-makers.
• Long-term city-shaping projects – The bid tied directly into infrastructure, transportation, and downtown redevelopment that Atlantans still use every day.

Whether you’re walking through Centennial Olympic Park, catching a game at Center Parc Stadium, or flying in and out of Hartsfield-Jackson, you’re experiencing the outcome of the strategy that helped Atlanta win the 1996 Olympics and reshape its future.