The 1996 Summer Olympics were an international multi-sport event held from July 19 to August 4, 1996, in Atlanta, United States. These were the fourth Summer Olympics to be hosted by the United States, and marked the centennial of the 1896 Summer Olympics in Athens, the inaugural edition of the modern Olympic Games. These were also the first Summer Olympics since 1924 to be held in a different year than the Winter Olympics, as part of a new IOC practice implemented in 1994 to hold the Summer and Winter Games in alternating, even-numbered years. The 1996 Games were the first of the two consecutive Summer Olympics to be held in a predominantly English-speaking country preceding the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney, Australia. These were also the last Summer Olympics to be held in North America until 2028, when Los Angeles will host the games for the third time.
The 1996 Paralympic Games in Atlanta, Georgia, United States were held from August 16 to 25. It was the first Paralympics to get mass media sponsorship, and had a budget of USD $81 million.
The shooting competitions at the 1996 Summer Olympics took place at the Wolf Creek Shooting Complex near Atlanta, United States. Competitions were held in men's events and women's events. For men's and women's double trap, it was the first Olympic competition, a women's shotgun event also had been added.
Egypt, which is represented by the Egyptian Olympic Committee (EOC), competed at the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta, United States from July 19 to August 4, 1996. Twenty-nine Egyptian athletes, twenty-seven men and two women, competed in boxing, handball, judo, rowing, shooting, swimming, weightlifting, and wrestling, but the nation did not win any medals.
The United States U-23 men's national soccer team, also known as the United States men's Olympic soccer team, is a youth soccer team operated under the auspices of U.S. Soccer. Its primary role is qualification into and competition at the quadriennial Olympic Football Tournament, the next of which is to be held during the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris, France. The team's most recent major tournament was the tournament at the 2020 Summer Olympics, in which the United States team did not qualify. Their most recent qualfiication was the tournament at the 2008 Summer Olympics, in which they were eliminated in the group stage.
Albania first participated at the Summer Olympic Games in 1972. They missed the next four games, three of them for political reasons due to the 1980 Summer Olympics boycott, 1984 Summer Olympics boycott and 1988 boycotts, but returned for the Barcelona 1992 Summer Olympics. They have appeared in all games since then. They made their Winter Olympic Games debut in 2006. Albania normally competes in events that include swimming, athletics, weightlifting, shooting, and wrestling. The country has not yet won an Olympic medal. Along with Bosnia and Herzegovina, Andorra and Monaco, Albania is one of four current European participants that have never won an Olympic medal. They have been represented by the Albanian National Olympic Committee since 1972.
El Salvador first competed in the Olympic Games at the 1968 Summer Olympics in Mexico City, Mexico. It has participated in every Games of the Olympiad since that time, excluding those held in 1976 and 1980, when the nation joined the American-led boycott in protest of the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. They have never competed in the Olympic Winter Games. El Salvador has not earned a medal at any Olympic Games.
The United States Virgin Islands competed in the 2008 Summer Olympics, which were held in Beijing, the People's Republic of China from August 8 to August 24, 2008. The appearance of its 23-person delegation marked its fifteenth appearance at the Olympic games, and its tenth appearance at the Summer Olympic games. In total, seven athletes participated on behalf of the Virgin Islands in Beijing. Of those, John Jackson and Tabarie Henry progressed to a post-preliminary event, and Henry reached semifinals in his own. There were no Virgin Islander medalists at the Beijing Olympics.
The men's trap shooting competition at the 2000 Summer Olympics was held on 16 and 17 September at the Sydney International Shooting Centre. There were 41 competitors from 29 nations, with each nation having up to three shooters. By defending his title from Atlanta, Michael Diamond won the host country's only gold medal in the shooting competitions. Diamond was the second man to successfully defend an Olympic title in the trap. Ian Peel earned Great Britain's first men's trap medal since 1968. Italy's Giovanni Pellielo earned bronze.
Men's 50 metre rifle prone was one of the fifteen shooting events at the 1996 Summer Olympics. Christian Klees shot a perfect 600 in the qualification round and set a new World record after 104.8 points in the final. With an even better final round, Sergey Belyayev surpassed Jozef Gönci to win the silver medal.
The men's ISSF 50 meter pistol was one of the fifteen shooting events at the 1996 Summer Olympics, held on 23 July at the Wolf Creek Shooting Complex in Atlanta. There were 45 competitors from 28 nations. It was the first time decimals were used in the 50 metre pistol finals. Boris Kokorev set a new Olympic record after scoring 570 points in the qualification round and 96.4 in the final, winning the gold medal, while places 2 through 5 were occupied by Belarusian and Italian shooters. Russia, Belarus, and Italy all received their first medal in the free pistol. Silver medalist Igor Basinski was the ninth man to win multiple medals in the event.
Men's 10 metre air pistol was one of the fifteen shooting events at the 1996 Summer Olympics. The defending champion, Wang Yifu, set an Olympic record of 587 points in the qualification round, taking a two-point lead. His lead increased during the final up to the last shot, where he scored a mere 6.5, and then fainted. He still won his fourth Olympic medal but lost the gold to Roberto Di Donna by the closest possible margin, 0.1 point. Medical staff of the Atlanta Games connected the incident to the heat, around 99 °F (37 °C) outside.
Men's trap shooting was one of the fifteen shooting events at the 1996 Summer Olympics. It was held on 20 and 21 July 1996 at the Wolf Creek Shooting Complex. there were 58 competitors from 41 nations, with each nation having up to three shooters. Michael Diamond of Australia won, setting two new Olympic records, ahead of two Americans. After the regular 150 targets, it took a marathon shoot-off to separate the silver and bronze medalists; after both shooters had hit 27 straight targets, Josh Lakatos hit his 28th while Lance Bade missed. It was the first medal in the men's trap for Australia; the United States had most recently been on the podium in the event in 1984.
Men's double trap shooting made its first appearance at the 1996 Summer Olympics, with Russell Mark becoming the inaugural champion after a strong final. Albano Pera and Zhang Bing won the other medals after a shoot-off with Park Chul-sung.
Men's skeet was one of the fifteen shooting events at the 1996 Summer Olympics. Ennio Falco shot a perfect 125 in the qualification round and a 24 in the final, winning ahead of Mirosław Rzepkowski and Andrea Benelli, who won the bronze-medal shoot-off against Ole Riber Rasmussen.
A total of twenty-nine sports venues were used for the 1996 Summer Olympics.
Guatemala competed at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London from 27 July to 12 August 2012. This was the nation's thirteenth appearance at the Summer Olympics, having missed three Olympics after its debut at the 1952 Summer Olympics in Helsinki.
Malaysia competed at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, from 27 July to 12 August 2012. This was the nation's fourteenth appearance at the Olympics, although it had previously competed in two other games under the name Malaya. Malaysia did not participate at the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow, because of its partial support to the United States boycott. Ahmad Sarji Abdul Hamid was the Chef de Mission of the national delegation at the Games.
Lalita Yauhleuskaya is a professional sporting shooter who won a bronze medal at the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney representing Belarus and currently represents Australia in international competition.
Saeed Al-Mutairi is a Saudi Arabian sport shooter. Al-Mutairi made his official debut for the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta, where he placed thirty-second in men's skeet shooting, with a hit of 117 targets, tying his position with five other shooters, including six-time Olympian and former silver medalist Eric Swinkels of the Netherlands. He managed to score 119 points for his category at the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney, and eventually achieved his best career result at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, when he shot a total 120 targets in the qualifying rounds, finishing only in seventeenth place.
