The interesting thing about writing this series of blog entries is that, as the year in question gets closer, I can remember more about what happened in the games, but it becomes harder to isolate one stand-out moment. The Atlanta Olympics in 1996 are a prime example. I was at home, in the middle of summer holiday from university, with no job; I was able to watch almost the whole of the BBC’s coverage of the event. As a result, I can remember lots of things about it without a single “I’ll always remember where I was when…” moment.
Which makes writing this blog a bit tricky.
So here are my many highlights of 1996: Donovan Bailey breaking the 100m world record; Michael Johnson absolutely obliterating the record in the 200m and then going on the win the 400m; Jonathan Edwards missing out on triple jump gold after putting a toe over the take-off board; Steve Backley and Jan Železný in an epic javelin battle; Michelle Smith dominating in the swimming pool, but sparking drug allegations; Nwanko Kanu lighting up the football competition; Steve Redgrave winning a record fourth gold and swearing that he never wanted to get back in a boat again.
And here is the video of one, selected at random:
