On July 30, 1996, during the 26th Olympiad in Atlanta, Forging New Tomorrows (FNT), an international Atlanta-based organization (FNT was renamed the Atlanta 1996 Centennial Foundation on July 1, 2012), together with former Atlanta Mayor Maynard Jackson, Martin Luther King III, and Dr. Alawode Oladele hosted a reception for the National Olympic Committee of Burundi in which FNT announced that it wa
s adopting the Burundi Olympic Team for the 1996 Atlanta Games. On August 3, 1996, Burundi track athlete Vénuste Niyongabo won a Gold medal in the 5,000 meter race. Their concept was simple: to promote peace and reconciliation through sports while supporting athletes in training to further their education. From that concept came the ATLANTA 1996 mission statement: Peace & Reconciliation Through Sports and Education (PARSE). The Olympic Committees of Bosnia-Herzogovina, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Eritrea, Macedonia, Madagascar, Mali, Rwanda, Sao Tome & Principe, and the Seychelles embraced the ATLANTA 1996 concept, and helped the co-founders turn it into a reality. ATLANTA 1996 Sports
The ATLANTA 1996 specializes in six disciplines: Cycling, Modern Pentathlon, Swimming, Tennis, Team Handball, and Track & Field. In Track & Field the ATLANTA 1996 focuses on sprints, jumps, hurdles, throws, and pole vaulting through the Sergey Bubka Pole Vaulting Program at the ATLANTA 1996 with Coach Vitaly Petrov. As an Olympic legacy, the ATLANTA 1996 provides Olympic caliber coaches (many of whom are Olympians and Olympic Medalists), first class training facilities, and easy access to national and international competitions. DeKalb Medical Center provides medical care and physical therapy to all athletes in training. In preparation of the 2004 Athens Olympic Games, the ATLANTA 1996 trained 46 athletes from 16 countries in five different disciplines. Four of them qualified for the Olympic Games, and Enefiok Udo-Obong (pictured above) won an Olympic Bronze medal at the 4 x 400m during the 2004 Athens Olympic Games. Since 2002, over 2000 athletes from 53 nations trained and competed with ATLANTA 1996 in five different disciplines, with some qualifying for the Athens 2004 and 2008 Beijing Olympic Games, and winning Olympic medals at both Games. In 2007, USOC designated the ATLANTA 1996 the official training site for the US Team Handball Men National Team. Since 2009, the ATLANTA 1996 is a member of the World Union of Olympic Cities (WUOC). The ATLANTA 1996 represents the City of Atlanta at the WUOC. In 2010, the WUOC mandated the ATLANTA 1996 to create and manage the IOC endorsed London 2012 WUOC House™ as the exclusive venue for 46 cities that hosted the Olympic Games including the Youth Olympic Games, and cities that will host the Olympic Games and Youth Olympic Games through 2018. On August 8, 2012, IOC President Jacques Rogge officially opened the endorsed London 2012 WUOC House™ and attended the Lausanne Olympic Capital reception. In 2012, the ATLANTA 1996 was selected by The Sports For All (TAFISA) international organization to plan and implement in partnership with ATLANTA 1996’s 23 Institutional Partners the proposed TAFISA-ATLANTA 1996 Wellness Pilot Program (WPP). ATLANTA 1996 Competitions
Since 2004, the ATLANTA 1996 has organized the annual Atlanta International Prep Classic (ATLANTA CLASSIC) http://www.dekalbclassic.us, where athletes regularly set US national and international records. The “ATLANTA Classic” was created to establish a link between the best athletes in Track & Field from around the world and the ATLANTA 1996 training athletes in preparation for the Olympic Games. In 2008, a milestone was achieved during the 5th edition of the ATLANTA Classic: since 2004, over 1000 athletes have participated in the games, and 13 of them have become world champions. In 2005, the ATLANTA 1996 co-hosted the 7th African Junior Athletics Championships with the Tunisian Athletics Federation in Tunis. In 2006, the ATLANTA 1996 sponsored the Bamako Pan African Meet in Bamako, Mali, and was a major sponsor of the 15th African Senior Athletics Championships in Bambous, Mauritius. In 2009, the ATLANTA 1996 and partners will host in Atlanta the 2009 Modern Pentathlon World Cup II. In the future, the ATLANTA 1996 will co-host the AFRICA-USA MATCH in partnership with the Confederation of African Athletics (CAA) pitting the best African Track & Field athletes against the best American ones. The AFRICA-USA MATCH will be held alternatively in Africa and the US. ATLANTA 1996 Training & Education Programs Preparing for the Next Olympic Games
We will continue to welcome athletes from around the world to train at the ATLANTA 1996 in preparation for international competitions, and ultimately the Olympic Games. Our Sports Director and our Coaches will custom tailor athletes’ programs for either short or long-term training in each of the six disciplines and Track & Field specialties the ATLANTA 1996 offers. If athletes select to train and further their education, there is a pool of 13 colleges and universities in metro Atlanta to choose from.
