Atlanta hosted the Centennial Games of the XXVI Olympiad from 19 July to 4 August 1996, marking 100 years since the first modern Olympics in Athens in 1896. Around 10,300 athletes from a then-record 197 delegations competed across 26 sports. The Games are remembered for Michael Johnson's 200 and 400 metres double in golden shoes, and were overshadowed by a bombing in Centennial Olympic Park.

Beach volleyball, mountain biking and women's football all made their Olympic debut in Atlanta. Qatar entered a delegation of 12 athletes at the Centennial Games, competing across athletics, shooting, volleyball and table tennis. The edition marked the Olympic debut of Nasser Al-Attiyah in shooting, the beginning of a long Olympic journey that would eventually bring Qatar a medal in London 2012, while table tennis player Hamad Al-Hamad also featured after qualifying through the West Asia Championship.

Qatar did not win a medal in Atlanta, but the Games maintained the nation's unbroken run of Summer Olympic appearances since its 1984 debut and continued to build competitive experience across several sports, laying groundwork for the results that followed at Sydney and beyond.