Atlanta 1996 Legacy Reopens to Public

(ATR) The warmup track for the 1996 Olympic Games is back in use in Atlanta.

Cheney Stadium, located near the site of the 1996 Olympic Stadium, reopened as a public track this week. The stadium had fallen in "disrepair," according to the Atlanta Track Club. Around the Rings visited the track on its opening day, which included a ceremony with local schoolchildren to mark the occasion.

Atlanta 1996 Gold Medalist Gail Devers attended the ceremony. At the Atlanta Olympics Devers won the women’s 100m and the 4x100m relay.

"Thank you to all who had a hand in refurbishing this track," Devers said at the ceremony. "Dreams started here for me. Cheney Stadium is a part of me, so my heart is overjoyed to see this track today."

Down the road from Cheney Stadium the Atlanta Olympic Stadium is in its third incarnation as a football stadium for Georgia State University. The stadium reopened earlier this year after a short conversion from a baseball stadium to a football stadium.

After the 1996 Olympics the stadium was known as Turner Field, the home of the Atlanta Braves baseball team. The Braves left Turner Field to move to a new stadium outside of Atlanta earlier this year.

Written by Aaron Bauer

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