Olympic Games in Sanford

Olympic Games in Sanford

Sanford Stadium Olympic Events

Sanford Stadium was another Athens Olympic site which held the men and womens soccer tournaments. These items illustrate fans cheering on the United States teams during the tournament, as well as the women’s finals in which the US team took home the gold. Several changes were made to the stadium in order to accomodate the games, with the most significant being the removal of the hedges surrounding the field. After the 1995 football season ended, the hedges were removed for the first time in Georgia history in order to make room for the soccer field. When the Olympic games ended the hedges were replanted “in a ceremony at the stadium where men in suits posed with shovels labeled Hedges II” (Macon Sports). The 1996 games marked yet another historic moment at Sanford Stadium with women’s soccer being introduced for the first time in Olympic history, and the US team taking home the first ever women’s gold medal. The game took place on August 1st where “76,481 supporters gathered in the stands, which at the time, was the most spectators to attend a female sporting event worldwide” (Team USA). This video captures the women’s finals where the US team can be seen facing off against the other qualifier China. The game was tied one to one until player Shannon MacMillan scored the winning goal, leaving the final score to be one China, two US. The team is then shown standing on the podium with their medals, and Sanford Stadium in pictured in the background as the national anthem plays. These items show yet again how the Olympics affected Athens and the magnitude of people that came to the city to support the games.

Alex Fisher

Alexander, Wilson. “For Only the Second Time in History, Georgia's Hedges Were Removed from Sanford Stadium.” Macon, Macon Telegraph, 20 Apr. 2018, www.macon.com/sports/college/university-of-georgia/bulldogs-beat/uga-football/article209417224.html.

Mike Cheatham papers, ms3735, Hargrett Rare Book and Manuscript Library, The University of Georgia Libraries

“Amazing Moments in Olympic History- 1996 Women-s Soccer Team.” Team USA, 3 June 2009, www.teamusa.org/News/2009/June/03/Amazing-Moments-in-Olympic-History-1996-Women-s-Soccer-Team.

“Football.” International Olympic Committee, 14 Jan. 2018, www.olympic.org/videos/atlanta-1996/football.

The Telegraph, Olympic Org

August 1996

photo, video

English

photo, JPEG

11 X 14