1996 Atlanta Summer Games
10,744 Athletes, 197 Countries, 271 Events
The Olympics returned to the United States after a 12-year break. Atlanta was chosen over Athens despite the fact it would be the Centennial Games. It was the first time that the Summer Games had happened in the United States since Los Angeles in 1984. Muhammad Ali, who won the boxing gold in the light-heavyweight division in 1960, lit the Olympic cauldron. 79 nations won medals which was a record at the time (until 80 nations won medals in Sydney).
The Ivy league sent a 36-member contingent almost half of which (17) were rowers. But the League also had some more creative athletes like Dartmouth's Dana Chladek '85 who took silver in women's kayaking and Brown's Jim Pedro '94 who won bronze in his second of four Olympic appearances in Judo.
Chladek, who is Czechoslovakian and moved to the United States when she was five, finished tied for the gold but her competitor's noncounting second run was much better so Chladek ended up with silver.
In all, the League won seven medals - two golds, two silvers and three bronzes.
Columbia's Cristina Teuscher '00 took home one of the two top medals. Teuscher claimed her medal when she raced the second leg of the 4x200-meter freestyle relay. With Germany in the lead, Teuscher, who was still an undergrad at Columbia at the time, turned in a 1:58.86 to vault the United States into the lead. The U.S. squad never looked back and cruised to the gold while setting the Olympic record. Teuscher went on to be named the NCAA Athlete of the Year in 2000 and she claimed a bronze medal at the Sydney Olympics later that year. She then served as the head women's swimming and diving coach at Yale for the 2010-11 and 2011-12 seasons.
The other 1996 Ivy League gold medal belonged to Brown's Xeno Mueller ('94). Mueller competed for Switzerland in the single sculls. He had also spent parts of his childhood in Germany, Spain and France, before coming to Providence. Mueller was in third with 500 meters to go before turning in a 1:36.56 to leave the competition in his wake. Four years later, in Sydney, Mueller took silver in the same event.
| Name |
School |
Sport |
| Porter Collins |
Brown University |
Men's Rowing |
| Martina Jerant |
Brown University |
Women's Basketball |
| Jamie Koven |
Brown University |
Men's Rowing |
| Xeno Mueller |
Brown University |
Men's Rowing |
| Jim Pedro |
Brown University |
Men's Judo |
| Susan Smith |
Brown University |
Women's Athletics |
| Dennis Zvegelj |
Brown University |
Men's Rowing |
| Tom Auth |
Columbia University |
Men's Rowing |
| Anne Marsh |
Columbia University |
Women's Fencing |
| Cristina Teuscher |
Columbia University |
Women's Swimming |
| Tom Murray |
Cornell University |
Men's Rowing |
| Steve Segaloff |
Cornell University |
Men's Rowing |
| Andrea Thies |
Cornell University |
Women's Rowing |
| Dana Chladek |
Dartmouth College |
Women's Kayaking |
| Bob Kempainen |
Dartmouth College |
Men's Athletics |
| Lindsay Burns |
Harvard University |
Women's Rowing |
| Adam Holland |
Harvard University |
Men's Rowing |
| Elizabeth McCagg |
Harvard University |
Women's Rowing |
| Mary McCagg |
Harvard University |
Women's Rowing |
| Meredith Rainey |
Harvard University |
Women's Athletics |
| Nick Sweeney |
Harvard University |
Men's Athletics |
| Pingtjan Thurn |
Harvard University |
Men's Swimming |
| Cecile Ulbrich Tucker |
Harvard University |
Women's Rowing |
| Cliff Bayer |
University of Pennsylvania |
Men's Fencing |
| Tamir Bloom |
University of Pennsylvania |
Men's Fencing |
| Jeff Pfaendtner |
University of Pennsylvania |
Men's Rowing |
| Lianne Bennion |
Princeton University |
Women's Rowing |
| Doug Burden |
Princeton University |
Men's Rowing |
| Kevin Cotter |
Princeton University |
Men's Rowing |
| Lynn Jennings |
Princeton University |
Women's Athletics |
| Dan Nowosielski |
Princeton University |
Men's Fencing |
| Peter Devine |
Yale University |
Men's Fencing |
| Brian Jamieson |
Yale University |
Men's Rowing |
| Celita Schutz |
Yale University |
Women's Judo |
| Odd-Even Bustness |
Dartmouth College |
Men's Rowing |
| Annie S. Kakela |
Dartmouth College |
Women's Rowing |
| Drusilla R. Van Hengel |
Dartmouth College |
Women's Rowing |