Come Celebrate Atlanta's Olympic 20th Anniversary

On the eve of Rio's Olympic adventure, Atlanta will celebrate the 20th anniversary of its 1996 Games at an evening party in Centennial Olympic Park.

The downtown gathering is free and open to the public on July 16 starting at 6 p.m.

According to a press release from the Georgia World Congress Center Authority (GWCCA), the entity charged with managing the park, the "Relive The Dream" event will be "star-studded" and feature food trucks, live entertainment and fireworks.

"The festivities will celebrate the glories of the Games, reuniting the athletic heroes, the organizing team and fans at the greatest lasting [1996 Olympic] legacy -- 21-acre Centennial Olympic Park," according to the release.

The event is also an "Olympic volunteer reunion," and according to Atlanta-based members of the pin collecting group Olympin, there will be tables available for trading and sharing favorite pin or Games-time stories. A spokeswoman for GWCCA said their "might" be a "Relive The Dream" pin created for the event.

Anticipated star athletes for the party include 10-time Olympic medalist and Sports Illustrated "Olympian of the Century" track and field legend Carl Lewis, Olympic swimming gold medalists Janet Evans and Amy Van Dyken, Olympic basketball gold medalist Teresa Edwards, and a reunion of the gold-medal winning "Magnificent Seven" U.S. women's gymnastics team including Kerri Strug, Shannon Miller, Amy Chow, Dominique Dawes, Jaycie Phelps, Amanda Borden and Dominique Moceanu. 

Earlier on July 16, Evans -- a vice chair and director of athlete relations for the Los Angeles 2024 bid committee -- will host a private "Town Hall" meeting at which many more Atlanta-based Olympians are expected. In a conversation following the Muhammad Ali Memorial Service in Louisville last month, Evans told me the town hall format was a hit with participants in Miami and Chicago during spring 2016. Since the Ali event in June, a third town hall took place during the USA Swimming Olympic Trials in Omaha last week.

Dignitaries scheduled to appear at Centennial Olympic Park include Georgia Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle, Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed and Ambassador Andrew Young, who with Billy Payne led the Atlanta Olympic bid and Atlanta Committee for the Olympic Games (ACOG). 

Payne first announced the July 16 party at last September's private "Dreamers & Believers" gathering of Atlanta Olympic bid team members. 

Scheduled entertainment includes country music artist Colby Dee, the folk and Americana duo Banks & Shane, and the gospel-influenced SEEiT Choir.

Since the 1996 Games, Centennial Olympic Park attracted $2.2 billion of new downtown development, including nine hotels, residential towers and attractions including the Georgia Aquarium, World of Coca-Cola and Center for Civil and Human Rights.

The park recently launched a new "adopt-a-brick" program inspired by the 1996 brick campaign that created the footprints and park space enjoyed by tens of millions of visitors during the last 20 years.

See you July 16!

Logo and park image via GWCCA; Payne photo by Nicholas Wolaver

HSH Prince Albert II of Monaco

Posting earlier about International Olympic Committee Member Anita DeFrantz reminded me of another IOC conversation of days gone by (specifically, days of 2002 in DeKalb County, Ga.). Unfortunately, no video to support the latter IOC encounter, but there are photos!

During early '02, the DeKalb International Training Center (now Atlanta DITC -- at the time a client of Edelman, the P.R. firm where I work) launched in Atlanta with the attendance of one of its patrons/co-founders, HSH the Sovereign Prince of Monaco, Albert II. The Atlanta DITC remains a key legacy of the 1996 Centennial Olympic Games of Atlanta (check out their intro video).

The launch event included several government officials and local politicos, media, Atlanta DITC Co-Chair Ambassador Andrew Young and Mr. Grimaldi in attendance with Atlanta DITC Co-Founder/Co-Chair, Dr. Marc-Daniel Gutekunst, who had his own Olympic introduction to Prince Albert back in 1996. For those who are curious, in 2006 the World Olympians Association published a DITC backrounder by some guy from Atlanta.

What impressed me most about Mr. Grimaldi was his approachability. In addition to speaking with dozens of guests eager to shake hands and discuss business with him at the "official" event, when we were behind the scenes he was friendly as well.

The best candid moment of the day (as an entourage from Atlanta DITC took him on a venue tour) came at the Emory University student aquatic center, where a young college student named Molly recognized Prince Albert from the pool. Her shy self-introduction quickly melted into an easy conversation with The Prince, and in no time she was asking many questions.

Without hesitation, the IOC member cheerfully answered Molly's eventual request to speak with her mother in Texas via cell phone (see photos). His conversation by phone was as down-to-earth as any other moment of the day, and he was appreciative of every volunteer and experience across Atlanta.

A few years later at another Olympic function, HSH was just as approachable.

My travels have not yet taken me to Monaco, but Monte-Carlo is on the list, including a visit to the nation's international sports events and a casino or two. I'll be looking for the royal bobsleigh training course (did you know The Prince competed at five Winter Olympiads in this sport?) -- you can bet on it!

Photo by Rick Diamond of Rick Diamond Photography in Atlanta c. 2003 for the DITC; Rick was a good sport and rode shotgun at 110 mph in the Prince's summer motorcade trek across Atlanta ... in my old Audi sans airconditioning. Rick is now with WireImage. The colleagues joining The Prince and I in the photo are Carol Milliron (beside Mr. Grimaldi) and Lisa Tilt, now of Full Tilt Consulting -- you can check out her excellent blog regarding branding.