1996 Summer Olympics

Atlanta -- His home was picketed by community activists, his name taken in vain by labor leaders and his work hours extended from pre-dawn to past midnight in a quest to extract millions of dollars from recession-wracked U.S. corporations.Meet Billy Payne, deep into the mean season of organizing the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta.Seated on a sofa in his office overlooking downtown Atlanta, Payne, 45, is rubbing his eyes, trying to wipe the signs of fatigue from his face. It's noon, but he already has been on the job since 4:30 a.m.And the Olympics are more than 1,200 days away.

TOKYO -- Atlanta won a final-round showdown with Athens, Greece, yesterday to be the site for the centennial staging of the modern Olympic Games, which were born in the Greek capital in 1896.In five rounds of elimination voting here by the International Olympic Committee, Atlanta's $7 million, three-year campaign won in what many considered the strongest field of would-be host cities ever to confront the governing body.IOC president Juan Antonio Samaranch, who unsealed an envelope to read the decision before a worldwide television audience, had scarcely finished uttering the city's name when the huge Atlanta delegation here burst into a long, loud demonstration.

ATLANTA -- With an emotional victory of unprecedented proportions, Atlanta yesterday morning gained the 1996 Summer Olympics and lost its reputation as an athletic Loserville.For years, this was a city that supported its professional teams with empty seats and emptier enthusiasm. The hockey team, the Flames, has been gone with the wind for years. The Braves, suffering through another pathetic baseball season, drew 3,473 on Monday night. The Hawks, perennial National Basketball Association underachievers, dumped coach Mike Fratello after last season.