1996 - 2008
1996
Atlanta, United States
The XXVI Olympiad was held from July 25 to August 8. Competing in 271 events in 26 sports were 10,310 athletes from 197 countries.
On a Friday evening during the Games, a bomb was set off in Centennial Olympic Park, one of the venues. It killed one woman and injured 111 more people. There has yet to be a conviction.
Carl Lewis of the U.S. won a gold medal in the long jump, bringing his total gold medals to nine, becoming one of the only three athletes to do so.
Steve Redgrave of Great Britain became the first rower to win gold at four straight Olympics.
Naim Suleymanoglu became the first weightlifter to win a gold medal in three consecutive Games.
There was also a controversy in these Olympics. Michelle Smith of Ireland won three gold medals and a bronze swimming medal. Her fellow athletes asked her to take a drug test, and it came back negative. However, she was still disqualified for refusing to take another test.
The United States won the most medals at 101.
2000
Sydney,
Australia
The XXIIth Olympiad was held from September 15 to October 1. More than 11,000 athletes from 199 nations attended. They competed in 300 events in 35 sports.
The 2000 Games are sometimes called the “Drug Games.” Forty-one athletes were disqualified for taking performance-enhancing drugs before they arrived in Sydney.
Nine more were disqualified before their event, but after coming to Sydney. A memorable one was Mihaela Melinte, a Romanian hammer thrower, who was taken off the field before he competed.
Eight more athletes were disqualified after their events: three Bulgarian and one Armenian weightlifters lost medals, a Latvian rower, a Russian runner, and a Romanian gymnast. The gymnast, Raducan, was controversial. She took cold medicine prescribed by her doctor, unaware that it contained a banned substance. After drug testing, she had to return her all-around gold medal, which would have been Romania’s first since Nadia Comaneci in 1976.
Marion Jones of the U.S. won five track and field medals. She won gold in the 100m, 200m, and 4x400m relay. She won bronze in the long jump and 4x100m relay.
The U.S. had the most medals with 97.
2004
Athens,
Greece
Athens was elected to host the 2004 Olympics on September 5, 1997. Rome, Italy, Cape Town, South Africa, Stockholm, Sweden, and Buenos Aires, Argentina also presented bids.
The XXVIII Olympiad will be held from August 13 to 29. There will 296 events in 28 sports.
2008
Beijing,
China
The XXIXth Olympiad was decided to be held in Beijing on July 13, 2001. Beijing had more votes than Istanbul, Turkey, Osaka, Japan, Paris, France, and Toronto, Canada.
There will be 28 sports in the Beijing Olympics. They will be held from July 25 to August 10.
For more information, visit:
http://cbs.sportsline.com/u/olympics/2000/history/