The 1996 Olympic Games took place in Atlanta, Georgia, in the United States. It was the first year in Olympic history that professional cyclists could compete, according to Sportinglife.com. Atlanta 1996 also welcomed new forms of cycling to the Olympics for the first time. The Games included 14 cycling events, including male and female races.
Cycling Categories
The 1996 Olympics featured three cycling categories -- track, road and mountain biking. Mountain biking became an Olympic Sport for the first time that year, according to a cycling timeline on the Exploratorium website. Similarly, women had the chance to compete in individual time trials for the first time. The road race featured time trials and race formats for men and women. The track featured several medal events, including time trial, pursuit, Olympic sprint, points race and team pursuit.
Venues
All road race events took place on streets in downtown Atlanta. The track events were held in a velodrome in Stone Mountain Park in DeKalb Country. Mountain bikers competed at the Georgia International Horse Park in the city of Conyers in Rockdale County. Organizers created the park specifically for the Olympic equestrian and mountain biking events.
Medals And Teams
Cycling at the Olympic Games in 1996 belonged to France. Out of a total of 42 available medals, the French team picked up nine medals overall, including five Gold Medals. Italy came second with five medals. The USA picked up three medals -- two silver and one bronze. In the team pursuit track event, France took Gold with Russia in second and Australia in third place.
Indurain And Longo
Perhaps the most high-profile cyclist competing in the 1996 Olympics at that time was Spain's Miguel Indurain. He won the Tour de France competition every year from 1990 to 1995 making him one of the most successful riders of all time. In Atlanta, Indurain took Gold in the men's time trial. Jeannie Longo, a highly successful French female cyclist with 10 World Championship titles, won her first Olympic Gold Medal at the age of 37. Legendary cyclist Lance Armstrong also competed in 1996. However, he only came in sixth place in the time trial.
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