ATLANTA — If you missed it, or too young to remember, you’ll get to relive the 1996 Centennial Olympics as the Olympic cauldron will be lit ceremoniously for the first time in decades.
Georgia State University announced that in celebration of the 2020 Tokyo Olympic U.S. Marathon Trials in downtown Atlanta this weekend, the iconic cauldron will be lit on Saturday at noon and remain lit until approximately the end of the marathon trials at 3:30 p.m.
[U.S. Olympic Marathon Trials to close main roads throughout downtown, midtown this weekend]
The cauldron sits just outside Georgia State Stadium at the intersection of Capitol Avenue and Fulton Street. Georgia State Stadium, previously Centennial Olympic Stadium before becoming Turner Field, hosted the Opening and Closing Ceremonies of the 1996 Olympics, along with all of the track and field events.
Competitors for the 2020 marathon trials will begin their race in front of Centennial Olympic Park – the crown jewel of the 1996 Atlanta Games – and head down Marietta Street toward Peachtree. They will proceed three miles north on Peachtree until they pass the intersection of Peachtree and West Peachtree, then turn around and head back down Peachtree in the opposite direction, loop through Atlanta’s Old Fourth Ward neighborhood and return to downtown. The runners will complete this loop three times before heading on a 2.2-mile final loop that runs under the Rings and Torch structure from the 1996 Atlanta Olympics, goes by the Georgia Capitol building and passes by the sports stadiums that house the Atlanta Falcons, Atlanta Hawks and Atlanta United FC. They will then reach the welcome sight of the finish line inside Centennial Olympic Park.
The cauldron was originally designed by Siah Armajani, who was chosen from among 30 artists and it was manufactured by American Structural Metal Inc., of Hugo, Minn.