2023-08-22 05:25:05
Charlie Battle himself points out to us that the Olympic flame looks like a cone of fries from a famous hamburger chain. He laughs about it, 27 years later, he who left his law firm in the early 1990s to run for his hometown.
He drives under the white metal “Atlanta 1996” footbridge, adorned with the golden Olympic rings.
“That’s the stadium. Michael Johnson broke the world record for the 200 meters. The opening and closing ceremonies and athletic competitions were held here. Now it is Georgia State University’s football stadium. »
For Charlie Battle, who has become director of international relations for his Games, “It’s great to have been able to build a stadium, to have used it for 23 years, and now that it has another use, that of a university football stadium. We are very proud of this heritage”.
Charlie remembers eight or nine sites specially designed for the Games. Most still used today, sometimes after some transformations.
second lives
The velodrome’s wooden track was later sold to Disney Park in Orlando, Florida… The Olympic swimming pool, which has since been covered, has become a sports center for Georgia Tech students, including a basketball hall above.
There is finally, according to him, only one failure in terms of infrastructure…
“We’re very proud that we didn’t build things we didn’t need. There’s one piece of equipment we’ve built that we’ve failed to sustain, and that’s our tennis center. We hoped it would become a competitive venue for tennis tournaments…it did for a while, but it never had lasting success. »
The real tragedy of these Centenary Games is obviously the July 27 attack. A homemade bomb kills one and injures 111 in Centennial Park, in the heart of the city…
On July 27, 1996, a homemade bomb killed one person and injured 111 in Centennial Park, in the heart of Atlanta. © AFP – GEORGES GOBET
Kendra and her family, passing through, eat a few fried chicken wings for lunch that day.
“It’s a nice park. There are American flags, Olympic flags. The Coca Cola Museum is on the other side. CNN Headquarters just steps away. I remember the bomb attack that took place during these Games. It’s still part of the city. »
New notoriety
On the ground, between the green spaces, names and dates are engraved on hundreds of bricks. These memorabilia from the 1996 Games were sold for $19.96 each at the time.
Atlanta owes its Games to Billy Payne. He applied for it and became its boss once the award was won. He believes that Paris 2024 has nothing to do with Atlanta 96.
“Our challenge was to get Atlanta known. We had to tell people that we were the birthplace of the civil rights movement, the homeland of southern hospitality. In the case of Paris, the city is already considered one of the two or three most prestigious cities in the world. The challenge for Paris is to confirm the wonderful reputation it enjoys all over the world. It’s a totally different challenge, but I’m sure they’ll handle it remarkably well. »
Billy Payne will be able to see it for himself: he will be in Paris next summer…
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