Word: atlanta
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...travelers are flying to Atlanta, their internal dissonance is unsettling. The bright celebration of the Olympic Games will be dimmed by a sticky coating of paranoia. We went through this atmosphere before, in the '70s, and we remember Munich...
...were pushed onto the field by strange creatures in corresponding colors of red, black, blue, yellow and green, the reaction of the 83,000 people gathered in Olympic Stadium Friday evening was not unlike that of the world when the Games of the XXVI Olympiad were first awarded to Atlanta back in 1990. Namely...
...sprites appeared, dancing to the irresistible beat and weaving their way through the tribes. Out of the delirious chaos came a formation, and presto, the tribes became the Olympic rings, and then the children became a huge white dove. All of it--the sprites, the tribesmen, the huge drums, Atlanta--all of it suddenly made perfect sense. Until Friday night the 1996 Summer Games merely belonged to this town. When the 4-hr. opening ceremony ended Saturday morning, millions of skeptics had become believers that the Olympics also belonged in Atlanta...
Even before the Games officially opened, the city was paving over the doubts and wiring up the excitement. Oh, traffic was often a mess, and the sidewalks became a flea market, but Atlanta seemed genuinely happy and gracious about welcoming the world. The City Too Busy to Hate was also too busy to wring its hands over the horrific tragedy of TWA Flight 800. The security presence was so large to begin with, some 30,000 strong, that added measures were hardly noticed. The safety concern manifested itself mainly as an added line of questioning at press conferences. Worries about...
...prospect of being a moon attendant in the elaborate Summertime number: "I mean, we once performed at the county fair, but this is the biggest, greatest thing ever." The blending of small town and wide world is what has already given these Olympics a special flavor. One Atlanta woman remarked the first time one of the two official Olympic languages came over the public address system, "I believe that's the first time French has been spoken in a Georgia stadium." Yet thanks to native son Jimmy Carter, who helped persuade North Korea to come, the 1996 Atlanta Games...