Atlanta Olympic Bombing

On October 14th, 2003, Eric Robert Rudolph was officially charged for the crimes he committed, which included the bombing of the Centennial Olympic Park, killing one and injuring over 100 people, changing how the world viewed sporting event safety and changing how sporting events are attended to this day. We're going to dive into what happened and what's changed since then. this tragic moment in sports history. Welcome to daily sports history. I'm Ethan Reese, your guide, as you daily learn about sports history, increasing your sports knowledge. And today's trivia question is in what state was the Centennial Olympic bomber captured? Now, The 1996 Olympics were held in Atlanta, Georgia. And it was a great moment for the United States as we hadn't held an Olympics since 1984, which was just 12 years earlier. But they beat out Japan, Greece, Australia, and Canada all to get this selection. And part of the reason why they were given it was the success they had in 1984. As it was one of the first Olympics to be financially successful for a country. And so they wanted to continue that success in giving Olympics. Atlanta that opportunity. And Atlanta was not just sitting by on what they already had. They had estimated that they were going to need to spend $ 1. 7 billion to upgrade venues and have private and get the games ready for the city. It included making Centennial Park, which was a 22-acre public park located in downtown Atlanta, Georgia. And it cost $ 28 million to put together to get ready for the event. You know, the Centennial Park became known as kind of a town hall or a meeting place for all the kind of events that were going around, that were bringing people together for these festivities that weren't just sports. And on July 27th, 1996, they held a concert there where the band Jack Mack and the Heart Attack played, who were a popular band who even was the house band for The late show with Joan Rivers back in the 80s. And they had a big crowd come just to see the festivities. When sometime after midnight, Eric Robert Rudolph planted a green U.S. military style pack containing three pipe bombs filled with a smokeless powder and three inch nails. And 18 minutes before the bomb actually went off, there was a call to 911 saying there was a bomb that was going to go off in the park. within 30 minutes, but it was an anonymous call. But while at the park, a security guard, Richard Jewell, discovered the bag underneath a bench and alerted Georgia Bureau of Investigation, who sent out the bomb squad to check on this. And while they were waiting on the bomb squad, Jewell and other security guards began to clear the immediate area of the bomb, which was placed next to a 40-foot sound tower. Now, as they were evacuating, About two or three minutes into the evacuation, the bomb was detonated. And that was before all the spectators could leave the area. And Alice Hawthorne, who lived nearby in Albany, Georgia, was killed from the explosion when she was riddled with shrapnel from the bomb and likely saved her 14-year-old daughter's life who was standing next to her. A cameraman for Turkish Radio and Television Corporation actually suffered a heart attack while running away from the scene. That ended up being fatal. And the bomb ended up wounding over a hundred people. And this was a terrible moment. Not only for America. It was a world event. The Olympics is viewed as a peace event. And it just caused turmoil throughout. It caused turmoil throughout the world. And President Bill Clinton denounced the explosion as an evil act of terror. And vowed to do everything possible to track down and punish whoever did it. was responsible or involved. And unfortunately, Richard Jewell, who saw the bomb and likely saved hundreds of lives starting the evacuation before it was detonated, was a main person of interest and drugged through the mud by the press and the police force as everyone accused him and thought he was the one guilty of this crime when all he did was be vigilant and did whatever he could to help. And he later brought a defamation lawsuit that lasted all the way past when Richard Jewell passed away in 2007. But in 2019, his story came back to life when Clint Eastwood directed a movie based off Richard Jewell's experiences with the bombing. So after that whole Jewell fiasco, the investigation into who did this bombing had little progress until early 1997. When there was two more bombings that were eerily similar in the way the bombings were created at an abortion clinic and a lesbian nightclub, then another bombing at an abortion clinic in Birmingham, Alabama, which killed a police officer working as a security guard and injured a nurse, gave FBI the crucial clues as witnesses saw a man walking away from the blast instead of running. and witnesses got a partial license plate, which helped FBI identify Eric Robert Rudolph, who was a carpenter and handyman, but even though they identified him, he was able to evade authorities as he lived in the Appalachian Mountains, even though he was one of FBI's 10 most wanted fugitives and had a $ 1 million reward for information leading to his arrest. In October 14, 1998, he was formally named as a suspect in all four bombings, including the Olympic bombings in 1996. And after five years on the run, they finally arrested him on May 31st, 2003, almost seven years after he set off that first bomb at the Olympic Park. And he was just found by a police officer doing his regular patrol, seeing, trying to get into a a dumpster, and the back of a save-a-lot in North Carolina. And on April of 2005, the government announced that Rudolph was pleading guilty to all four bombings and would serve four life terms without the possibility of parole. Now, Rudolph later gave his explanation of why he bombed the Olympics as millions were giving in to the idea of global socialism and promoting this throughout the world. And he thought that if he did this, The games would be canceled and it would empty the streets, eating into all the money that was invested into these socialist sports. But what he did won't change the lives he took, but it did change how we view sporting events. As security is one of the top priorities now in sporting events, it's hard for us to go to any sporting event now where you're not walking through a metal detector, you're not getting bags checked, you're limited on what you can bring in to the event. and their stricter background checks, their contingency plans in place for security threats. Now for all the Olympic events, these are plans that now have to be put in place because you never know when something like this could happen. It doesn't just have to be a random person. It could be an athlete. It could be a family member that could be upset by something that happened at the events. So you have to plan for everything. So it's changed how the events are put together. Millions of dollars have been put now into security for hosting an Olympic events and major sporting events across the world. We want to have these events. We want to be safe at these events. We've covered other tragic events where people have died at sporting events. And it's a terrible thing. And even though this was a terrible act, at least we are doing what we can to make the sports that we love safe to attend. Because attending a sporting event in person is just a great feeling. Especially when it's something like the Olympics. where you're supporting your country and you're supporting world peace. It's a great opportunity and we don't want something like this to end the great camaraderie the Olympics has given us to this day. And if you want to learn more about the Olympics, check out Inside the Rings, a show that dives into the Olympic history throughout the years that led us to the sport that we love and looking back at these iconic moments. And we'll put a link in the description below for you to check out Inside the Rings show. And if you enjoyed this episode of Daily Sports History, please share it with a friend. Hit that little triangle button wherever you're listening and share it. Send it in a text, in a direct message. Shout it out to your socials. Hey, check out Daily Sports History so that we can continue to grow and give you more daily sports history. And did you catch the answer to today's question? In what state was Eric Robert Rudolph, the bomber, the Olympic bomber, captured? And the answer was in North Carolina in the Appalachian Mountains.