World Report: May 3, 1996 Vol.1 No.24
- This Issue:
- Table of Contents
- Cover Story
- Cover Story - Spanish Version
- Mini-Lesson
- Comprehension Quiz
- Teacher's Guide and Worksheets
Atlanta Gets Ready
The last of the 85,000 seats are being installed. Workers in hardhats check out an unfinished light tower high above the field. The final touches are being applied to the presidential box, where Bill Clinton will sit, while down below, gardeners tend to the grass. It's April, and the Olympic stadium in Atlanta, Georgia, is still a construction site.
But on July 19, the work will be done. Every seat will be filled. On that evening at 8:30 Eastern time, the eyes of the world will be glued to this spot. Billions will watch on TV as the greatest athletes on earth parade into the stadium waving the flags of 197 nations and dreaming of gold medals. The crowd will cheer as the Olympic torch enters the ring and the President officially declares the opening of these historic Games.
The Summer Olympic Games, occurring every four years, are always a spectacular occasion, but this year's Games are special. They mark the 100th anniversary of the modern Olympics, which began in Athens, Greece, in 1896. Atlanta is pulling out all the stops to stage an unforgettable birthday celebration.
The Road To The Games
Some athletes train all their life to get to the Olympics. But Atlanta has had less than six years to get ready. The city had to raise $1.7 billion and build 10 new facilities, including an aquatic center for swimming and diving, a tennis center and, of course, the Olympic stadium.
When the rest of the world drops in for a 17-day visit, it'll see a spiffed-up Atlanta. City streets have been repaved. Expressways have been widened. Trees have been planted. New parks have been built.
Not everything has gone smoothly, though. A year ago, a light tower collapsed at the stadium, and a worker was killed. Two of the high-rise buildings at the Olympic Village, where athletes will live, started to sink into the ground. And part of the roof at the aquatic center recently fell off. Olympic officials have struggled to solve the problems and get the rest of the work done safely.
Just building the Olympic stadium was a very complicated job. One reason is Atlanta's unusual plans for it. After the Games end on August 4, workers will pull the stadium apart, toss some sections away and move other parts together, as if the stadium were a giant Transformer toy. Presto! An 85,000-seat stadium will become a 50,000-seat ballpark for the Atlanta Braves. Who was in charge of constructing this wonder? Bill Moss, the same man who built Disney World's EPCOT Center, MGM Studios and the Space Mountain ride.
The Stars Of The Show
The Olympic Village is like a small city with its own marketplace, hair salon and movie theater. Athletes are assigned to rooms by sport, so gymnasts of all nations will live together, as will wrestlers and swimmers.
One of the youngest athletes at this year's Games is U.S. gymnastics champion Dominique Moceanu (Mo-chee-ah-new), 14. Dominique has been called the "next Nadia," after Nadia Comaneci, a gymnast who scored seven perfect 10s at the 1976 Olympics. Both were born in Romania and were trained by the same coach, Bela Karolyi (Kuh-roll-ee).
"I like the comparisons with Nadia," says Dominique. "But I hope people will remember me for what I am. I'm different. I'm Dominique."
Other athletes are ready to leave their mark on these Games. U.S. diver Mark Lenzi, 27, a gold medalist at the 1992 Games, is going for it again. In March he got the highest score ever in a diving meet: 762.35 points. He beat the record of 755.49 points, held by Greg Louganis for 13 years.
Cyclist Rebecca Twigg, 33, has a great chance of winning a medal. At the 1995 world championships, she set a new world record.
Track-and-field great Michael Johnson also has his eye on a medal or two. The Olympic committee rescheduled the 200- and 400-meter events to be run on different days so he could compete in both.
Atlanta's Gain
Olympics always have a main gathering place. In Atlanta that place will be Centennial Park. The area used to be filled with old warehouses, but soon it will be home to an Olympic fountain, a reflecting pool and an outdoor theater. To make the area beautiful, crews are planting 130 trees. A gigantic 100-year-old pecan tree has been dug up and replanted next to the reflecting pool.
"People talk about the 10 stadiums we've built," says Billy Payne, president of the Atlanta Committee for the Olympic Games. "But Centennial Park is the greatest legacy the Olympics will leave to the city of Atlanta. It's a beautiful setting."
Payne had never been to any Olympic Games when the idea came to him that Atlanta ought to play host to the Olympics. To create an organization to look into the idea, Payne had to borrow more than $1 million from a bank. Payne's first Olympic organization had nine members. The Atlanta newspapers nicknamed them the "Crazy Atlanta 9." But this summer the whole world will watch their crazy dream come true.
"I thought we had a chance to pull it off right from the beginning," says Payne. "You gotta believe."
An Olympic-Size Lunch
What's a typical lunch for an Olympic athlete? You're looking at it: a turkey-and-cheese sandwich, vegetable spread with crackers, carrots, stuffed olives, potato salad, cheese, breadsticks, a hard-boiled egg, an orange, an apple, potato chips, vanilla pudding, a cookie and a granola bar! Athletes need energy. In Atlanta they'll refuel at an air-conditioned tent as big as two football fields. The Olympic dining hall will be open around the clock to feed 10,500 athletes a day.
During the Games, Olympians will consume 2 million soft drinks, 70,000 gallons of milk and 950,000 apples.
Did You Know?
- The five Olympic rings, representing the five continents, are one of the world's most recognized symbols.
- The Olympic stadium is made of 10,000 tons of steel--the weight of 59 blue whales.
- Four new women's sports appear in the '96 Olympic lineup: soccer, softball, mountain biking and beach volleyball.
- Athletes in outdoor events like the marathon and rowing will be challenged by Atlanta's heat. Average temperature in late July: 88°F.
- The most countries ever, 197, will take part in these Games. In 1992 only 172 nations competed. The increase is due mainly to the breakup of the Soviet Union into 15 independent states and Yugoslavia into five.
- A record number of athletes--10,788--and a record number of women--3,779--will compete in the Games.
- During the Olympics, half of all U.S. TV viewers will watch some part of the Games.
