二十年前，1996年7月19日至8月4日，美國喬治亞州首府亞特蘭大舉辦了第26屆夏季奧林匹克運動會，那一年是現代奧運會走過的第一百個年頭。
在那一年中，有我們熟知的鄧亞萍、李小雙，有勇奪5000米金牌的王軍霞，有當年並肩作戰拿下金牌、現如今一起發福的孔令輝和劉國梁，還有在郎平教練首次執教下突出重圍、殺入決賽的中國女排。
而你不知道的是，在那屆百年奧運會上，喬治亞理工學院不僅是奧運村的所在地，也是遊泳、跳水、花樣遊泳、水球、現代五項、拳擊等多項賽事的比賽場地。為了奧運會的順利舉辦，喬治亞理工學院可謂付出了巨大的努力。
對於很多喬治亞理工的在校生來說，20年前的今天，他們還沒有出生。那就讓我們一同通過一些親歷者的故事來感受當年的奧運氛圍、了解那屆百年奧運帶給這所學校的改變。
Twenty years ago Atlanta hosted the Centennial Olympic Games from July 19 to August 4, 1996, with the Georgia Tech campus serving as the home of the Olympic Village—where the athletes lived—and as the venue for swimming, diving, synchronized swimming, water polo, modern pentathlon, boxing, and Paralympic volleyball.
This story takes a look at Tech’s role in the Olympics through the eyes of some of the key contributors. For those who were at Georgia Tech or living in Atlanta in 1996, it will be a walk down memory lane. For those who were not, we hope the story provides insight into some of the work that occurred before the Games, and how it shaped Tech’s Olympic legacy that remains today.
M I C H A E L E D W A R D S1996年，Michael Edwards擔任喬治亞理工學院體育設施規劃與管理的負責人，奧運會期間被亞特蘭大奧委會「借用」，擔任水上運動中心的場館負責人。他同時負責管理兩個場館：遊泳館和水球運動場，並負責管理四種水上運動：遊泳、跳水、花樣遊泳和水球。水上運動場館團隊共由31個功能區管理人員和3000名志願者組成。
In 1996, Michael Edwards was director of Sports Facility Planning and Management at Georgia Tech. During the Olympics, he was 「on loan」 from Georgia Tech, at the request of the Atlanta Committee for the Olympic Games (ACOG), to be the venue manager of the Aquatic Center.
He was in charge of running two venues simultaneously—the swim stadium and water polo stadium—and managing four aquatic sports: swimming, diving, synchronized swimming, and water polo. The aquatic venue team was made up of 31 functional area managers and 3,000 volunteers.
「每當有人問我關於亞特蘭大奧運會時，我腦海中閃過的第一個詞語便是Amazing（太神奇了）！這是全球最大的體育盛會，它使亞特蘭大和喬治亞理工登上了一個前所未有的國際舞臺。有來自世界各地的271家電視臺、500家印刷媒體和300多個攝影記者齊聚這裡。」 現如今擔任喬治亞理工校園娛樂設施負責人的Edwards說道，他從奧運會的經歷中收穫到了無比多的經驗。
「Any time anybody asks me about the Atlanta Olympic Games, the first thing that comes to my mind… amazing! This is the largest sporting event in the world,」 Edwards said. 「It put Atlanta and Georgia Tech on a stage where they had never been before. There were 271 television stations, 500 print media, and more than 300 photojournalists from all over the world.」
Edwards, now senior director of Campus Recreation at Georgia Tech, said he learned a tremendous amount from his Olympics experience.
McAuley水上運動中心鳥瞰（攝於1996年）
「1996年的奧林匹克運動會是喬治亞理工一個偉大而全面的設備改建階段的序曲。而這些都源自於優秀的高層領導能力、視野，利用奧運會的勢頭促進喬治亞理工的發展。」 Edwards說道，最初喬治亞理工想要將奧林匹克水上運動中心建在校園內的初衷是希望這所水上運動中心能夠成為一個支柱，帶動校園內運動及娛樂設施的未來發展。
「The 1996 Olympic Games was the lead-in to what was a great overall capital improvement period for Georgia Tech,」 he said. 「This was because of excellent senior leadership and vision, utilizing the momentum to grow Georgia Tech.」
Edwards said the original reason behind Georgia Tech wanting the Olympic Aquatic Center on campus was for the aquatic center to become the anchor for the further development of athletic and recreational facilities on campus.
Bill和Ivenue Love-Stanley，兩位喬治亞理工學院建築系研究生共同設計了McAuley水上運動中心
現如今，McAuley水上運動中心被許多亞特蘭大當地的團體用作訓練場館，同時也作為喬治亞理工學院遊泳和潛水隊訓練及比賽的場所。這個場館也為整個喬治亞理工社區提供了教學和娛樂活動的場地，近日還被投票評選為全美國最佳大學水上中心。
Today, McAuley Aquatic Center is used by many metro area groups for training, and it is where Georgia Tech’s swimming and diving teams train and compete. The facility also provides instructional and recreational activities for the overall Georgia Tech community, and it was recently voted the number one collegiate aquatic center in the nation.
喬治亞理工學院交互計算學院的主席Annie Antón，在20年前還只是喬治亞理工學院的一名博士生。奧運會期間，她全程擔任赤道幾內亞的國家大使，居住在奧運村裡。她的工作是在赤道幾內亞代表團在亞特蘭大的六周內照顧他們的參賽隊伍。
Annie Antón, chair of Georgia Tech’s School of Interactive Computing, was a Tech Ph.D. student in 1996. She served as the envoy to Equatorial Guinea, and she lived in the Olympic Village during the Games. Her job was to take care of Equatorial Guinea’s Olympics team during the six weeks they were in Atlanta.
大使們需要在奧運會開始之前接受為期兩年的強化訓練。約有196名志願者大使固定在每周三晚上在Van Leer禮堂接收兩個小時的訓練。
The envoys were required to undergo two years of intensive training before the Olympics. Approximately 196 volunteer envoys met every Wednesday night for two hours in the Van Leer auditorium.
Annie Anton與獎牌獲得者、記者的合影留念
「每當有人提到亞特蘭大、喬治亞理工學院和奧運會時，第一個映入我腦海的總是當我看到每一位參賽運動員都佩戴著喬治亞理工學院帽子時的那種自豪感，」她說。「這是他們進入奧運村收到的歡迎禮物。那一刻，我意識到這些喬治亞理工的帽子會隨即遍布世界各地。」
「The first thing that comes to mind when someone mentions Atlanta, Georgia Tech, and the Olympics is the feeling I had of seeing every single Olympic athlete wearing a Georgia Tech hat,」 she said. 「That was their welcome gift to the Village, and I knew those hats were going to suddenly be all over the world.」
她目睹了奧運會對於喬治亞理工和亞特蘭大的持續的影響力。「我沒有一天看不到奧運會在喬治亞理工學院所留下的痕跡，它在學生的宿舍裡，在奧運會開始前剛剛建成的Kessler鐘樓裡，它在亞特蘭大的基礎設施裡，它還在這座城市的巨大改變裡。
She sees the lasting impact the Olympics have had on Georgia Tech and Atlanta.
「I can’t come to the Georgia Tech campus and not see the Olympic legacy every day,」 Antón said. 「I see it in the dorms. I see it in the [Kessler] Campanile that was built just before the Olympics. I see it in the infrastructure of the city of Atlanta. And, I see it in how much this city has transformed.」
喬治亞理工校園內的Kessler鐘樓，於奧運會開始前不久建成
1994年秋天，亞特蘭大奧委會請喬治亞理工學院機械工程教授Sam Shelton將火炬的藝術設計變為現實。
In the fall of 1994, the Atlanta Committee for the Olympic Games (ACOG) asked Georgia Tech Mechanical Engineering Professor Sam Shelton to turn the artistic torch design of Malcolm Grear Associates into a working instrument.
目前在喬治亞理工能源戰略研究所任高級研究員的Shelton，在喬治亞理工學院團隊的幫助下設計了1996年的奧運火炬。該團隊包括機械工程教授Lee Durbetaki，工業設計教授Lee Payne，研究生Kevin Berry，David Craig和Andy Delano。喬治亞理工學院校友Tim Purdy與該團隊共同完成了儀式火炬的設計。
Shelton, now a senior fellow at Tech’s Strategic Energy Institute, designed the 1996 torch with help from a Georgia Tech team including Mechanical Engineering Professor Lee Durbetaki, Industrial Design Professor Lee Payne, and then-graduate students Kevin Berry, David Craig, and Andy Delano. Tech alumnus Tim Purdy worked with the team on the design of the ceremonial cauldron.
Shelton自己也是15000名火炬手中的一員
「對奧運火炬的最主要的要求便是，它可以攜帶火種，並且在無論何種天氣情況下都不熄滅。」Shelton說。「奧運火炬傳遞將持續約15000英裡長，有15000名火炬手。當我開始設計火炬時，我慢慢地意識到，這是一個更大的項目，比我最初設想的要涉及更多的元素。」
「The primary requirement for the torch was that it could carry the flame and not go out. Wind, rain, snow, sleet… no matter what,」 Shelton said.
「The Torch Relay was going to be about 15,000 miles long and involved 15,000 torch bearers. I began to slowly realize, as I got into designing the torch, that it was a much bigger project and involved many more elements than I initially understood.」
Shelton和他的團隊對奧運火炬在各種情景下進行了測試。「終極測試是我把它帶回了家並放在淋浴噴頭下，看它是否還持續燃燒。」
Shelton and the team tested the torch under many conditions. 「The ultimate test was when I took it home with me and put the burning flame under the shower to see if it would stay lit,」 he said.
1996年亞特蘭大奧運會火炬
奧運火炬被設計為可以持續燃燒45分鐘，不添加燃料；能夠經受風雨；能夠忍受洛杉磯和亞特蘭大之間的溫度和海拔波動；並且重量不到3.5磅。奧運火炬既要足夠大，大到足以被觀眾的肉眼和電視鏡頭捕捉到，又要足夠小，小到火炬手們可以安全輕鬆的把它握在手裡。
亞特蘭大奧委會製造了17000支奧運火炬。每一把火炬有21個組成部分，由21個不同的供應商提供。Shelton的團隊需要同所有生產火炬的供應商溝通商討。他說，奧運會的工作經驗是不同尋常的。
The torch was designed to burn for 45 minutes without refueling; withstand wind and rain; endure temperature and elevation fluctuations between Los Angeles and Atlanta; and weigh less than 3.5 pounds. The torch also had to be large enough to be visible to spectators and television cameras, while small enough to be safe for the torch bearers to carry.
ACOG manufactured 17,000 torches. Each torch had 21 parts, supplied by 21 different vendors. Shelton’s team consulted with all of the vendors to produce the torches. He said the experience of working with the Olympics was phenomenal.
「奧運代表著世界和平，人類聚集在一起去克服逆境。能夠有機會去思考、去見證、去經歷、並成為幫助創造它的一部分，是一件非常令人神奇的事情」Shelton感慨道。
「The Olympics represented world peace, mankind coming together, and overcoming adversity. It was an amazing event to think about, to witness, to live through, and be a part of helping to create it,」 he said.
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