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By Meredith Parker

A stampede approached the 15K hydration station of the men’s 1996 Olympic Marathon, runners searching for their assigned table and preparing to snatch their personal fluids. They grabbed, they gulped and they galloped on. Just as quickly as they came, they were gone.

In a blink, three Atlanta Track Club workers were among those helping to break down the empty white tables and collect the scattered fluid bottles that had been tossed to the pavement.

Among them was Janet Monk, a volunteer who went on to a long career at the Club and will assist with hospitality for the Trials. Monk spied a bottle and thought “I’ll just keep that one” as a souvenir.

It turned out to be the bottle of Josiah Thugwane, who would win the gold medal. The white bottle with a South African sticker still sits her bookshelf at home, a reminder of the two weeks that she volunteered at the greatest global sporting event on earth.

Monk is among five longtime Club staff members – along with Andy Carr, Brantley Sherrer, Lisa Tanner and Elizabeth Unislawski – who assisted with the 1996 Games and who are now hard at work on the 2020 U.S. Olympic Team Trials – Marathon.

On September 18, 1990, the announcement was made that Olympic tradition and competition would soon grace the city of Atlanta. Dreams emerged for Olympic hopefuls. Anticipation soared for leaders and organizers. Excitement grew for people like Monk, who just wanted to help out.

 “When I knew that Atlanta Track Club was going to be a part of the Olympics, I started volunteering for the Club, because I wanted to be a part of it,” she recalled.

The five were thankful to be called upon to work 20-hour days and stay awake for 48 hours at a time. Both Tanner and Sherrer, who held paid positions with the International Olympic Committee, said it was the hardest job they’ve ever had.

For Tanner, who organized the track and field schedule and then made sure that all the events began on time, it was her first job after graduating from the University of Georgia as a standout high jumper, and led to a career in sports administration. Years later, she is Events Director for the Club.

 “I think that shows the longevity and the respect of this organization that from 1996 to 2020 [we are] still seen as an organization that should be helping further Olympic dreams.”

Without Tanner in ’96, Allen Johnson’s Olympic dream might have become a nightmare. As his 110-meter hurdle final was about to start, Tanner realized that he wasn’t at the start line.

“I ran out and told him ‘Your race is on the track. They’re getting ready to start!’ Tanner recalled. “He threw all his gear to me, grabbed his spikes and ran out there and won the gold.” 

 After Johnson ran 12.95 seconds to break the Olympic record, he ran back to Tanner to thank her for not letting him miss his race.

Meanwhile, Sherrer handled all logistics for road courses, including the men’s and women’s marathons, race walking and cycling. He placed signs, assembled tables, created hydration stations and even marked the course. It’s almost identical to what he’s done in preparation for the Trials and for the Club for the last 30-plus years.

And after the machine that painted the blue line marking the Olympic marathon course messed up along one stretch, he even directed traffic while another volunteer re-painted that portion by hand.

Sherrer, a native Atlantan, watched the Olympic Games change the narrative of his hometown.

“It gave us a chance to really show what we can do nationally and internationally. To show that we can be a player in the sport, Sherrer said.

Carr agrees that the ‘96 Olympics made Atlanta the sports haven it is today.

“We’re putting on the Super Bowl of road running on our streets,” Carr said. “The Olympic Marathon is a special international event, but there were only six Americans in those two races. The Trials will have close to 800 Americans in two races. I think that speaks for itself.”

For five weeks in 1996, Carr managed the Grady High School track as a practice facility. He also rode the marathon press truck, getting a front row seat to watch runners he had only before seen on TV, as he assisted the media. For the Trials, Carr will coordinate USATF officials on the course and coach the Milton High School girls track team 4x1-Mile Relay in a special high school race the morning of the Trials that will cross the same finish line hours before Team USA is selected for the Tokyo Games.

In 1996, Unislawski handled picking up personal fluids from the Athlete’s Village at Georgia Tech in the early morning hours on marathon day and transporting them to the course. At the time, personal race fluids were fairly new to the sport; for the Trials, every athlete was invited to use them. (See page 69).

Unislawski, whose 33 years with the Club is the most of any staff member, is arranging food and housing accommodations for almost 800 qualifiers. She still loves that “race day feeling,” which emerged even during a recent practice run when dozens of Trials participants came to Atlanta to check out the course as a group.

“You’re right there at the start. You’re right there at the finish. It just kind of takes my breath away,” she said.

The Olympic rings over Hank Aaron Drive, Centennial Olympic Park, the Olympic banner that graces the Atlanta Track Club walls, the gold medalist’s fluid bottle on a bookshelf – they are all part of the legacy that continues with the Trials almost a quarter century later.

“It helps us remind people that Atlanta can be thought of as a healthy destination city. I think it helps us push forward our vision of Running City USA. I think it puts some legs under that statement,” Tanner said, as she and the other four from the “Team of 1996” again play a role in Atlanta’s fitness future.

 

Photos: Meredith Parker, Courtesy of Club staff members