Introduction * 1988 * 1992 * 1994 * 1996-2006 * 2008-2010 * 2012 * 2014 * 2016-2018
1996 Summer Olympics (July 19 - August 4)
Olympic.org; Wikipedia
Held in Atlanta, USA. I'm sure this year I was feeling some holdover excitement from the 1994 games, so this would be about as excited as I've ever been about the Summer Games. Some memorable names included Kerri Strug, Shannon Miller, Dominique Dawes, and Dominique Moceanu (who was probably my favorite, at the time). And I don't really know what else to say. Oh... there was a bombing, which I tend to forget. And this year General Mills introduced Team USA Cheerios as an Olympics tie-in. (The "USA" was dropped from the name in 1997. Sometime thereafter, the cereal was discontinued, though I'm not sure when.)
1998 Winter Olympics (February 7-22)
Olympic.org; Wikipedia
Held in Nagano, Japan. Wikipedia reminds me of the names Tara Lipinski and Michelle Kwan, and Todd Eldredge. Probably other names would be familiar if I heard them. I dunno.
2000 Summer Olympics (September 15 - October 1)
Olympic.org; Wikipedia
Held in Sydney, Australia. I didn't notice any familiar names on Wikipedia. I'm not sure if I watched any of these games. 2000 wasn't my best year, in general, so it's hardly surprising if I wasn't in the mood.
2002 Winter Olympics, Salt Lake City, USA (February 8-24)
Olympic.org; Salt Lake 2002; Wikipedia
2004 Summer Olympics, Athens, Greece (August 13-29)
Olympic.org; Wikipedia
2006 Winter Olympics, Turin, Italy (February 10-26)
Olympic.org; Wikipedia
Looking at these three years, I almost don't remember that the Olympics happened. Skimming Wikipedia's pages, the only name that struck me as familiar was Michael Phelps, in 2004. If I remember anything about any of these years' games, it's just as likely to be from news reports rather than watching the games themselves. I don't really know. It seems like I would have been interested in watching the Olympics take place in Greece, so it's a shame that I don't remember it. Oh, and I guess Shaun White competed in snowboarding in Turin. I vaguely recall wondering how Carrot Top got into the Olympics.