" n.d. para.1). Another incident, the Centennial Olympic Park Bombing was a terrorist bomb attack on the Centennial Olympic park in Atlanta, Georgia in the 1996 Summer Olympics. The blast claimed one life and injured one hundred eleven people (Centennial, " n.d. para. 1). The task of creating a healthy and safe mass gathering such as the Olympic Games can never be business as usual. It requires not only applying known methods and processes, but also developing and trying new ideas and systems that are as relevant to the public health aspects of the event as they are to the international community as a whole. .
Sports speak to people more than any other human activity. They symbolize and express wellness and health in its full sense, therefore strongly affecting people's attitudes and habits. The burden of disease from tobacco use and obesity has reached indescribable levels world-wide. It may come as a surprise that the tobacco industry and the Olympic Games have a long history stretching back to the 1948 London Games, of which Craven A cigarettes was a major sponsor. The relationship between the Olympics and the tobacco industry grew to be quite close over the next four decades, until the International Olympic Committee (IOC), the governing body of the Olympic Movement, adopted a tobacco-free policy (Steakley, 2012, para. 1). Huge athletic gatherings such as the Olympic Games possess a unique potential, which is not limited to the duration of the Games, to promote healthy eating and physically active lifestyles. They represent an occasion for all of mankind to celebrate physical excellence, cultural diversity, unity, fair competition and peace. .
From a public health perspective, they represent a challenge, but also a great opportunity. The 2002 Winter Olympic Games were the first Olympics to sponsor a community health initiative, A Healthier You 2002. This program used inspiration from Olympic athletic excellence to motivate Utah residents towards healthier behavior.
