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Spectacular ceremony opens Athens Games
A grand opening ceremony launched the Athens Olympics 2004 on Friday, lifting spirits in the Games' ancient birthplace after the host nation was rocked by a drugs drama involving its two top sprinters.
A spectacular opening ceremony launched the Athens Olympics on Friday, lifting spirits in the Games' ancient birthplace after the host nation was rocked by a drugs drama involving its two top sprinters.
A worldwide television audience saw Greece lift the curtain on the biggest sports show on earth, as patrolling helicopters and troops underlined the Games are guarded by the largest security operation in peacetime Europe.
International Olympic Committee President (IOC) Jacques Rogge and Greek leaders have said everything humanly possible has been done to ensure the safety and success of the Olympics -- the first summer Games since the September 11, 2001 attacks.
Former US President George Bush is in Greece to join world leaders in a show of unity behind the Olympic ideal of peace. Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan of Greece's long-time rival Turkey has said he will bring a message of global cooperation.
"I worry about security for a lot of events ... But sometimes we underestimate the ability of security forces to forestall these things," Bush, father of US President George W. Bush who has declared war on terror, told NBC television.
Athens' futuristic new, 75,000-seat Olympic Stadium was packed as darkness fell and spectators anticipated three hours of theatrics centred around an artificial lake in the arena.
For 45 minutes, spectators in the Olympic Stadium sat hushed and open-mouthed as a celebration of life, love and one of the world's greatest civilisations spread out before and above them.
Drums thundering out the sound of a racing heartbeat reverberated under the soaring glass wings of a futuristic oval arena that only months ago had no seats and no roof.
The stadium floor was flooded with water, creating a shimmering sea that burst into flames in an electrifying moment as the five Olympic rings were set ablaze by a pyrotechnic comet flashing down from the sky.
From a centaur striding across the lake with a lance of light to Eros floating high in ethereal majesty, the show presented a living pageant of 3,000 years of human history.
A giant marble head, floating seemingly weightless, peeled apart to reveal an ancient statue and beneath that a man balanced on a cube in mid-air, signifying the birth of logic.
A timeline of athletic development was then portrayed in human friezes whose artistic roots lay in the treasures of Ancient Greece.
In the first Summer Games since the September 11, 2001, attacks, the celebration of sporting prowess was staged under Europe's biggest peacetime security blanket. Guards outnumber athletes by seven to one.
Protected from afar by Patriot missiles, and watched over by airships and helicopters, the ceremony featuring competitors from a record 202 countries offered the world a chance to forget its troubles for three hours.
The US team received a huge cheer from the packed crowd of more than 70,000 on Friday as they marched round the Olympic Stadium at the opening ceremony of the Athens Games.
The cheers dispelled fears the team would receive a hostile reception because of the US-led invasion of Iraq to topple Saddam Hussein.
The teams from Iraq and Afghanistan also received loud cheers.
US officials had cautioned American athletes they might receive a hostile reception and asked them to act with decorum.
Athletes from North and South Korea marched together into the Olympic Stadium on Friday in a symbolic gesture that many Koreans hope will lead to fielding a unified team at the 2008 Games.
Some 200 athletes and officials from the world's last Cold War flashpoint followed South Korean women's volleyball player Koo Min-jung and North Korean official Kim Sung-ho, who waved a special "unification flag" bearing a map of the peninsula.
The joint march repeated their emotional entry at Sydney. In 2000, the South, an industrialised democracy, and the North, a heavily militarised communist state, began a stop-and-go effort at burying deep political differences.
The two Koreas, technically in a state of war since their 1950-53 conflict ended without a peace treaty, are discussing fielding a joint team for the 2008 Games in Beijing.
On Friday, International Olympic Committee President Jacques Rogge met Lee Yeon-taek and Mun Jae-duck, leaders of the South and North Korean Olympic committees.
The three agreed to explore the idea of a united Korean team in 2008, South Korean officials said.
On Thursday, the table tennis teams of the two Koreas held a joint practice session and embraced for television cameras.
The two halves of the peninsula have been separated since 1945 and still lack telephone, Internet and postal links.
South Korea were 12th in the Sydney medals table, winning eight golds, 10 silvers and 10 bronzes. North Korea finished 60th, capturing one silver and three bronzes.
Greek President Costis Stephanopoulos opened the Athens Games at a spectacular ceremony watched by an estimated global television audience of four billion.
"Athletes, I turn to you now. This is the moment you deserve to enjoy," International Olympic Committee President Jacques Rogge said in a short speech.
Patrolling helicopters and troops underlined the Games are guarded by the largest security operation in peacetime Europe.
Rogge and Greek leaders have proclaimed everything humanly possible has been done to ensure the safety and success of the Olympics -- the first Summer Games since the September 11, 2001 attacks on the United States.
