On July 18, 1996, the Olympic torch touched down at Atlanta City Hall. On Saturday, a group of Olympic aficionados will celebrate 30 years since the 1996 Atlanta Olympics at the Tara Theater.
The theater will host a screening of the award-winning local documentary “The Games in Black & White,” which tells the story of the groundbreaking partnership between Andrew Young and Billy Payne that won Atlanta the 1996 Olympics – from the bid, to the Games, to the legacy.
“The Games in Black & White” premiered at the 2025 Atlanta Film Festival, then aired on Georgia Public Broadcasting and thousands of in-flight Delta screens. Soon, it will air on PBS.
It tells the story of Atlanta in the 1990s, but it also tells the story of Atlanta today. Particularly, it shows the legacy of the Olympics in the present day.
“That victory, the victory that Billy and Andy engineered, not only changed my life,” writer and producer George Hirthler said. “It changed the future of our city.”
Hirthler worked as the lead writer for the city’s hosting bid. It kicked off a 35-year “Olympic movement career,” traveling the world and helping cities with their own Olympic bids. But he kept his eye on Atlanta.
“The Olympic chapter has literally become sort of a booster rocket for the future of Atlanta in many ways,” Hirthler said.
The 30th anniversary comes as the world wraps up another major sporting event: The 2026 FIFA World Cup, with eight matches hosted by Atlanta. It has brought an estimated 300,000 visitors to the city, specifically to downtown Atlanta.
Hirthler says that is no coincidence. It is proof of the Olympic legacy. “Atlanta is the creme de la creme of hosting cities in the United States,” he said. He called downtown a “championship campus,” with 20 places to host a party or event within walking distance from the stadiums.
“The Olympics created that catalyst for change,” Hirthler said.
Before the 1996 Olympics, Atlanta had hosted some events, largely conventions. The Georgia World Congress Center made it a “convention city,” and the 1980 launch of CNN gave Atlanta international visibility. The city had a “nice resume.”
But the Olympics ramped everything up – a “booster rocket.” As Hirthler explained, major sporting events are catalysts for economic development. More than $3.5 billion has been invested around downtown Atlanta since 1996.
Today, the World Cup has encouraged downtown development like South Downtown and Centennial Yards. In 1996, the big ticket item was Centennial Olympic Park. The project aimed to connect the city’s venues to thousands of hotel rooms by transforming a warehouse district into the “beating heart” of downtown Atlanta.
During the World Cup, it has been the “beating heart” of the FIFA Fan Festival. Organizers report over 453,000 visitors have come to the festivities in just over two weeks – all set in the park.
To Hirthler, it is clear-cut proof of Olympic legacy. But he still hears the question: What did the Olympics really do for Atlanta today?
“If you happen to be downtown, you can see the impact of the Olympic Games with everything that’s going on with the World Cup,” Hirthler said.
That’s where “The Games in Black & White” comes in. Hirthler hopes the documentary will be able to show the Olympic impact in Atlanta today, as a symbol of the Civil Rights Movement and as a way to “redefine Atlanta’s story.”
Payne and Young’s partnership connected Civil Rights to the Olympics, giving weight to Atlanta’s bid as the Centennial Olympic Games host. The 1996 Games showed Atlanta would host major events and spurred billions of dollars in development. The legacy is present today, even down to vintage 1996 Olympics t-shirts and pin trading sessions.
But Hirthler thinks you can feel it most just looking around downtown. After all, Atlanta is one of a handful of cities in North America to host eight FIFA World Cup games.
“The World Cup is prime evidence we’re succeeding, even beyond our initial dreams about where this could take us,” Hirthler said.
“The Games in Black & White,” made by Atlanta Story Partners George Hirthler and Bob Judson, will play at the Tara Theater on July 18 at 1:30 p.m. Hirthler will host a post-screening filmmaker Q&A with several Olympic leaders. Tickets are available online.
