In a little more than 150 years since its birth, Atlanta became one of 21 cities in the world to host the summer Olympic Games, the only one of three American cities to host the Games, and the first city east of the Mississippi River to do so.  Atlanta was the first city anywhere awarded the games on its first attempt and was the first city in the South to bid for the games. 

The Centennial Olympic Games, held in Atlanta, Georgia from July 19-August 4, 1996, were one of the most watched events in history, commemorating the 100th anniversary of the Modern Olympic Games, held in 1896 in Athens, Greece. Over 150 Heads of State attended this historic event consisting of 29 sporting events with 16,500 athletes, coaches and officials participating in the games. The estimated cumulative television audience for the event reached an astounding 35 billion people. Over 11 million event tickets were sold; nearly 2 million visitors attended the games; and 15,000 media representatives covered the event.

The Atlanta Committee for the Olympic Games selected the PBA neighborhood as part of the course for the Women’s and Men’s Road Race Cycling events.  On July 21 at 11:00 AM and on July 31 at 8:30 AM women and men riders, respectively, raced on tree-lined streets and were cheered on by neighbors who, for the first time in neighborhood history, did not complain of traffic exceeding the posted speed limits of 25 and 35 miles per hour.

In the 1996 Atlanta Olympic Games, professional cyclists were allowed to compete for the first time, allowing professional adversaries to become national allies.  Also in these games, mountain biking was added as a competitive event for the first time in Olympic history.

On August 6, 1996, USA Today summarized the results of the Centennial Olympic Games Cycling Events from the perspective of the U.S. Olympic Cycling Team:

Still no Golds since '84 for U.S. Cycling

The Associated Press

The SuperBike was a super bust at the Olympics, along with the American cyclists. The U.S. cycling team came to Atlanta riding plenty of hype and what was billed as the best equipment available. What the Americans got was another lesson in European dominance. The SuperBike produced just one medal - Erin Hartwell's silver in the 1-kilometer time trial. One other silver and one bronze were what the U.S. team had to show for a highly touted training regimen and technology program. Europeans, meanwhile, won 13 of the 14 gold medals, including five by France and four by Italy. ''We went faster than we ever had,'' U.S. national team coaching director Chris Carmichael said. ''It's just that the other countries went a little faster. And that's sports.''

The Americans were expecting at least six medals, including their first golds since dominating the boycott-scarred 1984 Los Angeles Games. Instead, the team was dogged by failure - and even surrender. Six-time world champion Rebecca Twigg, the premiere women's cyclist in America, quit the team after a spat with Carmichael and flew home five days before the time trial. That made Jeanne Golay, who took her spot in the race, the first U.S. women's cyclist to ride in three events at one Olympics. ''It's inconceivable to me that somebody could throw away a chance to ride in the Olympics,'' Golay said. ''I was proud to wear the stars and stripes.'' Golay didn't medal, however, and neither did most of her teammates. The only U.S. cyclists who reached the podium were Hartwell, Marty Nothstein, second in the men's sprint, and Susan DeMattei, third in the women's mountain bike debut. Hartwell produced the only medal for the ballyhooed SuperBike II, billed as the best bicycle on the planet.

The Americans' biggest stars came up short, including Lance Armstrong in the road race and time trial, and mountain biders Juli Furtado and Tinker Juarez.  After unprecedented success at the past two world championships on the first-generation SuperBike, the U.S. team was counting on great success in Atlanta, led by the men's pursuit team and Twigg. 

Team pursuit cyclist Mike McCarthy said the world's best training and technology couldn't offset foreign riders who had more talent or better techniques. In the individual pursuit, Kent Bostick was quickly eliminated by riders using the new ''Superman'' riding technique, where they fully extend their arms in front of them rather than tucking them in. Bostick said the Americans have to adopt the technique. ''There's a reason Superman flies like he does,'' Bostick said. ''It will be looked into,'' said Carmichael, who begins searching for answers with his staff this week.

With many of the Americans complaining of tired legs on race day, there's concern that maybe the training was just too intense - although with six cyclists over age 33, maybe they were just too old. Road racer Steve Hegg even suggested that perhaps the riders were just too pampered when they weren't riding. ''The staff went to every extreme to make sure that every rider on the team had whatever they needed - a two-hour massage, some kind of special diet,'' he said. ''They did everything for us. They did a great job. ''Maybe it was too comfortable,'' he said with a shrug. ''I don't know.'' Carmichael insisted he wasn't discouraged, saying the team fared better than its combined medal total from Barcelona (two bronze) and Seoul (one silver).

Armstrong had wanted to atone for his disappointing 14th-place finish in the road race at Barcelona, but only got 12th in Atlanta and was sixth in the individual time trial. ''These were big events for me, but now I start thinking about the Classico San Sebastian next week in Spain,'' Armstrong said. ''I have to get back to work. I can't afford to be too disappointed.''