The 1996 Olympics
Atlanta shocked the world when it won the bid to host the 1996 Olympics. Those Olympics set the tone for what Atlanta is today. The story has been told over and over again, but rarely has it been told from the perspective of the two individuals who made it all happen. The documentary The Games in Black & White tells the story of how Atlanta Olympic CEO Billy Payne, with the support of Ambassador Andrew Young, turned the dream of bringing the 1996 Olympics to Atlanta into reality.
The Games in Black & White premiered at the Atlanta Film Festival on April 26, 2025.
“Well, completely unlike me, Andy was already known all over the world. [He was] already a great representative not only of our country but our region of our country, the American South, specifically Atlanta, and I knew If I could get Andy in front of the people who voted 88 people from 50 different countries that we’d have a good chance. And thankfully, he was willing to travel the world with me, and we made it happen,” Payne told Carvd N Stone.
Young saw the vision and knew that they could win the world bid, but it wouldn’t be easy. The journey to winning the Olympics was years in the making. Payne hand-picked nine individuals who would make up the Atlanta Nine to help push the dream of Atlanta hosting the Olympics forward. According to the documentary, July 23, 1991, was the first time the Atlanta committee met to plan the Olympics. One of their biggest strategies was traveling the world and building relationships with the International Olympic Committee (IOC).
After their final presentation in Tokyo, it was decided that Atlanta would host the 1996 Olympics. According to the documentary, the 1996 Olympics received 3.2 billion viewers worldwide.
All of this happened because Payne had a vision, and Young had the willpower to gain momentum and support from the people they needed to move the dream forward.
“Well, you have to go back to before this. See, Jimmy Carter had been president. He canceled the Olympics for Moscow. He pulled out, and so Ted Turner brought in the Goodwill Games, so Atlanta had a history of dealing with the Olympics. I lived on the corner in New Orleans, [and] I grew up with the German-American Bund 50 yards from my house. And so I went to see the Olympic Games on television in a segregated theater when I was four years old, and that’s why I knew that I always wanted to go to the Olympics and never made it. And I met [Billy Payne], and I said well, I couldn’t go to the Olympics, but we can bring the Olympics here,” Young told Carvd N Stone.
Equal Economic Opportunity Program
After officially winning the 1996 Olympics bid, Payne and Young immediately made it known that the funds and contracts coming in would benefit the people of Atlanta. According to The Games in Black & White, 4,000 entrepreneurs across the city were positively impacted through the Equal Economic Opportunity Program (EEOP).
The 1996 Olympics had a budget of $1.7 billion that didn’t cost taxpayers a dime. According to the documentary, the 1996 Olympics was the last summer Olympics to pay for the venue with marketing funds and not taxpayer dollars.
It was also Payne’s idea for Atlanta’s Centennial Park. The 21 acres used to be an old warehouse area, and now it has transformed into an Atlanta staple that includes the Georgia Aquarium, which brings millions of people to the city each year.
There were so many parts that went into making this dream come true, but it all started with Payne and Young.
Check out our video interviews from the 2025 Atlanta Film Festival here.
