All eyes are on Rio right now, with competition well underway in the 2016 games.Twenty years ago, those eyes were locked on the United States for the '96 games in Atlanta, and part of them were played right here in East Tennessee.
The Ocoee River flows deep in the Appalachian mountains of southeast Tennessee, and it was there that Olympic whitewater events were contested two decades ago.
"In '96 the world came to Polk county and it was exciting nationally and internationally as well," said Terry McDonald, a ranger in the Cherokee National Forest.
Kayak and canoe slalom events flowed down the Ocoee in 1996 at a rapid pace. For 2 weekends in a row, athletes raced down the river in nearly twenty events, bringing hundreds of spectators to Polk County.
All churning up business for decades to come.
"This is a natural river, which is something they had not had before. It's dam controlled which controls the flow of water and it's in a beautiful setting," said McDonald.
A setting that's kept dozens of rafting companies busy for years.
Since the 1996 Olympic games business in this section of the Ocoee river has completely skyrocketed. Officials say the number of people coming has more than doubled and the number of visitors has just began to plateau within the past couple years.
Around 300-thousand people come into the Whitewater Visitor Center alone.
"It put us on the map," said McDonald.
The river is categorized in three different sections--- the upper, middle and lower Ocoee. The Olympic section is in the Upper Ocoee and it's packed with rapids and boulders that can be intimidating.
Now, twenty years after the 96 Olympics, people are still filing into the Cherokee National Forest to say they've been on an Olympic whitewater course and they've seen a piece of Olympic history.