Federal authorities had a hunch that something bad was going to happen at the 1996 Atlantic Summer Olympics in the city’s Centennial Olympic Park, so they came prepared: A mighty security force consisting of 11,000 National Guard and active-duty military personnel, 500 Delta Force and SEAL-Team 6 commandos and 30,000 law-enforcement officers massed to protect the Games’ 10,000 athletes and the 2 million fans who gathered to attend. But the security wasn’t tight enough to prevent a homemade pipe bomb from exploding in Atlanta’s Centennial Olympic Park, killing one person and injuring 100. The athletes were disappointed but not discouraged. “This is just a reminder that sports is the ideal, not the reality,” U.S. hammer thrower Kevin McMahon told TIME. “It would be nice to do nothing but practice and compete, but that would be living life with blinders on.”
TIME Covers Terrorism Throughout the Years
“Terror’s Venue”
August 5, 1996
Full List
TIME Covers
- “Tower Terror”
- “Unabomber: Tracking Down the Unabomber”
- “Oklahoma City: Blow to the Heart”
- “Terror’s Venue”
- “What’s Wrong at the FBI?”
- “Botching The Big Case”
- “If You Want To Humble An Empire”
- “A Clear And Present Danger”
- “The Fear Factor”
- “The Shoe Bomber’s World”
- “Can We Stop The Next 9/11?”
- “Rush Hour Terror”
- The Fort Hood Killer: Terrified … or Terrorist?