ATLANTA — Thirty years after hosting the 1996 Olympic Games, Atlanta is preparing to play a historic role in the Olympics once again.
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City leaders announced Tuesday that Atlanta will be the first stop in the United States for the Olympic flame as it travels from Greece ahead of the 2028 Summer Games in Los Angeles.
The announcement was made during a ceremony at Atlanta City Hall, where Clark Atlanta University’s Mighty Marching Panthers helped kick off the celebration.
“As Los Angeles prepares for 2028, Atlanta will be the first stop in the United States for the Olympic flame coming from Greece,” Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens said.
The news brings Atlanta’s Olympic legacy back into the spotlight three decades after the city hosted the Summer Games in 1996.
That year, the Olympic flame was lit in Olympia, Greece, before making its way to the United States and eventually Atlanta, where boxing legend Muhammad Ali delivered one of the most memorable moments in Olympic history by lighting the cauldron during the Opening Ceremony.
“He knew the magnitude of what this was,” said Lonnie Ali, Muhammad Ali’s wife.
She recalled the secrecy surrounding the decision to have her husband light the cauldron.
“Dick told him, ' Muhammad, if you tell anyone, we’re going to have to choose someone else. He didn’t want that to happen,” she said.
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Billy Payne, president and CEO of the Atlanta Committee for the Olympic Games in 1996, said the moment remains one of the city’s proudest achievements.
“Everybody thinks they know how to deal with emotion and pride, but you really never experienced it like you do when your town has a pivotal role in the Olympic Games,” Payne said.
Payne believed Ali’s appearance, despite living with Parkinson’s disease, would inspire people around the world. Lonnie Ali said her husband considered lighting the cauldron one of the most significant moments of his life.
Olympic athlete Sha’Carri Richardson said Ali’s impact extended far beyond sports.
“What his presence has done for sports, both in and out of what it is to be an athlete and just a person, I feel like that showed up in that moment and that’s what everyone connected to,” Richardson said.
Organizers also announced that the 2028 Olympic torch relay will make history by traveling through all 50 states for the first time.
“Twenty twenty-six is gonna be one of those years that we remember, from having FIFA World Cup to having now this announcement in 2028 to the Super Bowl in 2028. So much to love about Atlanta,” Dickens said.
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