Atlanta, Georgia and the Olympics: What Locals and Visitors Should Know

Atlanta’s connection to the Olympic Games is one of the defining chapters in the city’s modern story. Whether you live in Atlanta, are planning a visit, or just want to understand how the Olympics shaped Atlanta, Georgia, there are a lot of local details worth knowing—especially if you want to explore the legacy in person.

The 1996 Atlanta Olympics in a Nutshell

Atlanta hosted the Centennial Olympic Games in the summer of 1996. For weeks, the city was the center of global attention, with events spread across metro Atlanta and parts of Georgia.

Key things to know:

• Host city: Atlanta, Georgia, USA
• Year: 1996 – the 100th anniversary of the modern Olympic Games
• Main venues in the city core:
  • Centennial Olympic Stadium (later converted into what became Turner Field, now Center Parc Stadium)
  • Georgia World Congress Center
  • Georgia Dome (since demolished and replaced by Mercedes-Benz Stadium)
  • Centennial Olympic Park

For Atlantans, the Games were more than a two-week event. They drove major changes in downtown development, transportation, tourism, and city branding that are still visible today.

How the Olympics Changed Atlanta

If you live in or visit Atlanta now, you still experience the Olympic impact in everyday ways.

Downtown Revitalization

Before the Games, much of downtown Atlanta had less pedestrian activity and fewer recreational spaces. Olympic preparations led to:

• Creation of Centennial Olympic Park, a large public green space that helped tie together downtown attractions.
• New or upgraded hotels, sidewalks, and streetscapes.
• Strengthening of the tourism corridor around what is now the Georgia World Congress Center, State Farm Arena, and Mercedes-Benz Stadium.

This helped shift downtown toward being more visitor-friendly and walkable, especially around the park.

Transportation and Infrastructure

To handle Olympic traffic and visitors, Atlanta focused on:

• Improvements to Hartsfield–Jackson Atlanta International Airport, now one of the busiest airports in the world.
• Enhancements around MARTA rail and bus access to venues and downtown.
• Road and signage upgrades across parts of the metro area.

If you’re using MARTA today to get downtown or to events, you are benefiting from investments prioritized during the Olympic build-up.

Sports and Event Culture

Hosting the Olympics helped Atlanta solidify its identity as a major event city. Since then, the city has:

• Attracted Super Bowls, college football championships, major concerts, and international events.
• Built and renovated major sports facilities like Mercedes-Benz Stadium and Truist Park in a city that was already home to the Falcons, Braves, and Hawks.

For residents, this means a steady flow of large-scale events, with all the pros (entertainment, exposure) and cons (traffic, crowds) that come with them.

Must-See Olympic Legacy Sites in Atlanta

If you’re curious about the Atlanta Olympics, there are several places you can visit today to see and feel that history.

Centennial Olympic Park

Location: 265 Park Ave W NW, Atlanta, GA 30313

Centennial Olympic Park is the most visible and accessible reminder of the 1996 Games. Originally built as a gathering space for visitors, it’s now a central public park used by locals, office workers, and tourists.

Highlights:

• Fountain of Rings: A splash fountain designed in the shape of the Olympic rings, especially popular with families.
• Commemorative bricks and markers: Many engraved with the names of supporters and countries.
• Monuments and sculptures: Including Olympic-inspired artwork and plaques describing the Games.

The park is bordered by major attractions like:

• Georgia World Congress Center
• CNN Center (now largely repurposed but still a well-known landmark)
• World of Coca‑Cola
• Georgia Aquarium
• College Football Hall of Fame

📝 Tip for visitors: The park is generally open daily and is easy to reach via MARTA’s GWCC/CNN Center Station on the Blue/Green line. It’s a convenient starting point if you want a quick feel for the Olympic legacy without a full-day museum trip.

Former Centennial Olympic Stadium / Center Parc Stadium Area

The original Centennial Olympic Stadium was converted after the Games into Turner Field, which served as the Atlanta Braves’ home for years. Today, the facility is Center Parc Stadium, used primarily by Georgia State University athletics.

Location: 755 Hank Aaron Dr SE, Atlanta, GA 30315

What you’ll find now:

• A modern college football stadium.
• Surrounding improvements, including student housing and mixed-use development.
• Some references to the site’s Olympic and Braves history in the immediate area.

This area may be more interesting if you’re a serious Olympics or sports history fan, rather than a casual visitor. It’s accessible by car and local bus routes; check MARTA bus connections from nearby rail stations if you prefer transit.

Georgia World Congress Center and Surrounding Campus

Location: 285 Andrew Young International Blvd NW, Atlanta, GA 30313

During the Olympics, the Georgia World Congress Center (GWCC) hosted multiple indoor events. Today the GWCC campus is one of the largest convention complexes in the country and frequently hosts:

• Trade shows and conventions
• Fan festivals tied to big games and tournaments
• Community and cultural events

Nearby:

• State Farm Arena (home of the Atlanta Hawks and major concerts)
• Mercedes-Benz Stadium (home of the Atlanta Falcons and Atlanta United FC)

Even if you’re not attending an event, walking around the GWCC campus and adjacent International Plaza gives you a sense of how the area was designed to handle Olympic-sized crowds and has remained an event hub ever since.

Other Olympic-Related Spots in and Around Atlanta

While not all of these are purely “Olympic sites,” they played roles during the Games or connect to Atlanta’s wider sporting identity:

• Atlanta History Center

  • Location: 130 West Paces Ferry Rd NW, Atlanta, GA 30305
  • Occasionally features exhibits or materials related to Atlanta’s modern history, including the Olympics, alongside broader city and regional history.

• Local running and sports culture

  • The Peachtree Road Race, held annually on July 4, isn’t an Olympic event but draws elite runners and thousands of participants. Atlanta’s Olympic legacy helped reinforce the city’s identity as a place where large-scale sporting events are part of the culture.

If you’re a resident interested in the legacy side of the Olympics, local libraries and historical organizations can be good resources:

• Fulton County Library System – Central Library
  • Address: 1 Margaret Mitchell Square, Atlanta, GA 30303
  • Often houses archives or collections that include materials on the 1996 Olympics, especially in local history sections.

Experiencing the Olympic Story as a Visitor

If you’re visiting Atlanta and want to build an Olympic-themed outing, you can easily combine sites and attractions in a single day, especially around downtown.

Sample Half-Day Olympic Walk Around Downtown

Starting Point: MARTA’s Peachtree Center or GWCC/CNN Center Station

1. Walk through Centennial Olympic Park

   • See the Fountain of Rings, sculptures, and green spaces.
   • Look for the plaques and markers that reference 1996 and the participating nations.

2. Explore nearby attractions

   • Depending on your interests, you can choose one or two of:
     • World of Coca‑Cola
     • Georgia Aquarium
     • College Football Hall of Fame

3. Stroll around the GWCC / Mercedes-Benz Stadium area

   • Walk southwest from the park into the Georgia World Congress Center campus.
   • Take in the scale of the venues that continue Atlanta’s role in global sports and events.

4. Optional: Head to the former Olympic Stadium area

   • If you have a car, drive to Center Parc Stadium to see the evolution of the Olympic venue into a university facility.

For Atlanta Residents: What the Olympic Legacy Means Day to Day

If you live in Atlanta, you may not think about the Olympics often, but its influence touches:

• Property and development patterns downtown and around the stadiums.
• Event traffic and tourism, especially on weekends and during major conventions or games.
• The city’s international profile, which contributes to business travel, convention bookings, and international partnerships.

For families and locals:

• Centennial Olympic Park serves as a free or low-cost outing option.
• The downtown cluster around the park has become a go-to area for school field trips, staycations, and visitor hosting.

If you work near downtown, you may also use the park and surrounding plazas daily as lunch spots, walking routes, or commute pass-throughs, all of which grew directly out of 1996 planning.

Quick Reference: Key Atlanta Olympic Legacy Spots

Practical Tips for Exploring Atlanta’s Olympic Sites

• Getting around:

  • MARTA rail is the easiest way to reach downtown Olympic-related sites. Stations to know:
    • GWCC/CNN Center (Blue/Green lines)
    • Peachtree Center (Red/Gold lines)
  • For Center Parc Stadium, check MARTA bus routes from Garnett or Georgia State stations, or use a car rideshare.

• When to go:

  • Early morning or later afternoon can be more comfortable in summer heat, especially around Centennial Olympic Park.
  • Weekdays often feel less crowded than weekends, depending on conventions and events.

• Safety and comfort:

  • Stay aware of your surroundings, especially at night, as you would in any major city.
  • Downtown areas around the park are generally active and well-trafficked during the day, with regular police and security presence due to nearby venues and offices.

How Atlanta Talks About Its Olympic Past

Locals tend to have mixed but thoughtful views of the Olympics:

• Many remember the excitement, pride, and global spotlight, including volunteer opportunities and community involvement.
• Others focus on costs, displacement, and long-term impacts on neighborhoods and housing.
• Most agree the Games helped turn Atlanta into a more visible international and event-focused city, for better and for worse.

If you’re studying or just curious about city planning and mega-events, Atlanta’s experience is often used as a case study in how Olympics can reshape an urban core, transportation network, and civic identity.

Atlanta, Georgia’s connection to the Olympics is not just history—it’s built into the parks you walk through, the stadiums you see on the skyline, and the way downtown functions today. Whether you’re here for a weekend or you call the city home, exploring these Olympic legacy sites can give you a clearer sense of how 1996 helped make Atlanta the city it is now.