Atlanta 1996 Olympic Games

US OLYMPIC CITIES

The United States’ women’s teams enjoyed resounding success at the Atlanta 1996 Olympic Games, capturing the first-ever gold medals in women’s soccer and softball, as well as winning gold in women’s gymnastics team all-around and women’s basketball.

For the first time, the Summer Games were held in a different year than the Winter Games and this marked the centenary of the first-ever modern Olympics, the Athens 1896 Olympic Games. Twenty-four nations made their Olympic debut, but it was the host United States that led the medal count for the first time since 1984 and for the first-time in a non-boycotted Olympic Games since 1968. Swimmer Amy Van Dyken became the first American woman to win four gold medals in a single Olympic Games. Tragedy occurred in the middle of The Games, when a bomb exploded in the Centennial Olympic Park, killing two people and injuring 110 others.

Olympic Highlights

Nations: 197
Athletes: 10,318 (6,806 men, 3,512 women)
Disciplines: 37
Medal Count: United States 101 (44 gold, 32 silver, 25 bronze); Germany 65 (20 gold, 18 silver, 27 bronze); Russia 63 (26 gold, 21 silver, 16 bronze)
New Sports: beach volleyball, mountain biking, softball, lightweight rowing, women’s soccer

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The U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Museum offers a timeless experience by capturing the history of Team USA at the Olympic and Paralympic Games, as well as the hopes and dreams of future generations.

DIRECTIONS

Downtown Colorado Springs:

200 S. Sierra Madre Street 80903

719.497.1234

View map

PARKING

U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Museum offers parking in the adjacent Park Union District lot for $7.50 per-day. Metered parking is also available on Sierra Madre and Vermijo.

Olympic Marks are used under license from the U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Committee. 36 U.S.C. 220506
Website development supported in part by a grant from the Colorado Tourism Office.