             
             
Athletics
Carl Lewis
is one of only four Olympic athletes to win nine gold medals and one of only three to win
the same individual event four times (the long jump) in Los
Angeles 1984, Seoul 1988, Barcelona
1992 and here in Atlanta.
Marie-José
Pérec won the 400m gold in Barcelona 1992 and again
in Atlanta, to become the first runner of either sex to win the 400m twice. Pérec made
history again, when she defeated Merlene Ottey of Jamaica, in the 200m final; to become
the second runner to win both the 200m and the 400m.
Michael
Johnson is the only man to dominate in the 200 and 400 metres events; winning both
events in Atlanta and the 400m again, in Sydney 2000. The
American also won gold in the 4x400m relay at both Olympics.
Baseball
As Cuba's appointed hitter, Orestes
Kindelán set Olympic records by hitting nine home runs in nine games and batting in
18 runs.
Cycling
Women's time trials and were added as an Olympic event and Mountain
Bike was added as an Olympic sport.
Jeannie
Longo, of France, had already dominated women's cycling for 10 years (winning ten
world championships), before she finally struck gold in the Atlanta road race.
Football
Atlanta 1996 was the first Olympic Games where women footballers took
part in the Atlanta 1996 Olympic Games; where a record
76,481 people cheered the American women home to gold, in the final against China.
Judo
16-year-old Sun-Hui Kye
caused a major upset when she stepped out of North Korea for the first time and defeated
Japan's Ryoko Tamura (who entered the final with an 84-match winning streak) in the
extra-lightweight division of women's judo.
Modern Pentathlon
The team even was dropped and the individual event (previously held
over four to five days) would be held on one day only.
Sailing - in Savannah
The Laser was introduced to the Olympic Games as an open single-handed
dinghy event. The strict class rules are meant to guarantee that it is the sailor, not the
equipment, that makes the difference.
In windsurfing, the Mistral was selected as the men's and women's
Olympic sailboard.
Softball
Originally invented as 'indoor baseball', by a Chicago reporter, the
game soon spread outdoors and finally became an Olympic sport in Atlanta; as a sort of
'baseball for women'.
Table Tennis
By winning the women's singles and doubles events again, Yaping Deng
of China made it four gold medals in two consecutive Olympic Games.
Volleyball
Beach volleyball made its first appearance at the Olympic Games.
Charles
'Károly' Kiraly of the United States followed up his two volleyball gold medals (Los Angeles 1984 and Seoul 1988)
with a gold medal in the first Olympic beach volleyball competition.
Weightlifting
Bulgarian-born Naim
Suleymanoglu, who defected to Turkey in 1986, won his third consecutive gold
medal; in the featherweight division.
Wrestling
Russia's Aleksandr
Karelin won his third consecutive gold medal in the Greco-Roman wrestling, super
heavyweight division.
Aquatics, Archery, Athletics,
Badminton, Baseball,
Basketball, Boxing,
Canoe, Cycling,
Equestrian, Fencing,
Football, Gymnastics,
Handball, Hockey,
Judo, Modern
Pentathlon, Rowing, Sailing, Shooting,
Softball, Table Tennis, Taekwondo, Tennis,
Triathlon, Volleyball, Weightlifting, Wrestling.
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