Olympic Games ceremony

The ancient Olympics, held in Greece from to , provide the first examples of Olympic ceremonies. The victory celebration, elements of which persist in the modern-day medal and closing ceremonies, often involved elaborate feasts, drinking, singing, and the recitation of poetry. The more wealthy the victor, the more extravagant the celebration. The victors were presented with an olive wreath or crown, harvested from a special tree in Olympia by a boy specially selected for this purpose, using a golden sickle. In order to open the Games in ancient Greece, the organizers would hold an Inauguration Festival, followed by a ceremony in which the athletes took an oath of sportsmanship. The first competition, an artistic contest of trumpeters and heralds, concluded the opening festivities. == Evolution of the ceremonies ==

Some elements of the modern ceremonies date back to the ancient Games from which the modern Olympics draw their ancestry; an example of this is the prominence of Greece in both the opening and closing ceremonies. During the 2004 Summer Olympics, the medal winners received a crown of olive branches—a direct reference to the ancient Games where the victor's prize was an olive wreath. The various elements of the ceremonies are mandated by the Olympic Charter and cannot be changed. The host nation is required to seek the approval of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) for proposed ceremony elements, including the artistic portions of the opening and closing ceremonies. The Olympic ceremonies have evolved over the centuries. The ancient Games incorporated ceremonies to mark the beginning and ending of every sporting event. There are similarities and differences between the ancient Olympic ceremonies and their modern counterparts. While the presentation of the Games has evolved with improvements in technology and the desire of the host nations to showcase their own artistic expression, the basic events of each ceremony have remained unchanged. The presentation of the opening and closing ceremonies continues to increase in scope, scale and expense, with each successive celebration of the Games, but they are still steeped in tradition. ==Lighting of the Olympic flame==

at Olympia, Greece, site of the ancient Games Several months before the start of each Summer and Winter Games, the Olympic flame is ignited during a ceremony held at the Stadium at Olympia, the main site of the ancient Olympics in Olympia, Greece. An actress dressed as an ancient Greek priestess (joined by a group of women representing the Vestal Virgins) uses a parabolic mirror placed at the nearby Temple of Hera to concentrate the rays of the sun to ignite the flame. If the weather prevents the use of the parabolic mirror on the day of the ceremony, a backup flame that was lit during a prior dress rehearsal is used instead. The Olympic torch relay then begins with the priestess presenting the torch and an olive branch to the first relay bearer (usually a Greek athlete who has already qualified to compete in that edition of the Games) and the flame first travels along its route through Greece. Before it leaves the country, a handover ceremony is held in the Panathenaic Stadium in Athens, where the Hellenic Olympic Committee transfers the flame to the current year's National Olympic Committee (NOC) and local Organizing Committee (OCOG) hosts. == Opening ==

While the Olympic Mass has inaugurated the Olympic Truce since 1896 to include the religious dimension of the Olympic Games, the Olympic opening ceremony represents the official commencement of an Olympic Games and the end of the current Olympic cycle. Due to the tight schedule of the Games, it is usual for some of the sporting events start two or three days before the opening ceremony, including the preliminary rounds in ice hockey at the Winter Games and those in football at the Summer Games. Generally, no competition is scheduled to begin on the day of the opening ceremony; between 1992 and 2020, this practice was codified in the Olympic Charter. As mandated by the Olympic Charter, various elements frame the opening ceremony of a celebration of the Olympic Games. Most of these rituals were established at the 1920 Summer Olympics in Antwerp, Belgium. Tickets Tickets for the opening ceremony are often the most expensive and sought-after of the Games. Unsurprisingly, this was not the case for the 2020 Summer Olympics and the 2022 Winter Olympics because these Games were held behind closed doors due to the COVID-19 pandemic as the former held a year later in 2021 from its original 2020 schedule. In accordance with strict pandemic protocols, the opening ceremonies took place with only invited guests in attendance. Time of day , hailed as one of the "greatest ever", at the culturally auspicious timing of 8:00 pm on 8 August 2008. Since the 1996 Summer Olympics, the host committee has been required to stage the opening ceremony on a Friday evening. The 1980 Summer Olympics opening ceremony in Moscow took place at sunset, marking the first time the ceremony was held in the evening. Eight years later, to facilitate a live, prime-time broadcast on Friday night in the Americas, the 1988 Summer Olympics opening ceremony in Seoul was held in the morning, a move that faced criticism from the athletes due to the excessive heat. The last opening ceremony to be held during daylight hours was that of the 1998 Winter Olympics in Nagano, Japan. Although it had originally been planned for the evening to comply with the aforementioned 1996 rule, U.S. broadcaster CBS also demanded a live, prime-time broadcast in the Americas. With the start time rescheduled to 11:00 am local time, it facilitated a grand finale which, for the first time in history, featured a live and synchronized performance by six international choirs, linked to the venue via satellite. It was a performance of Beethoven's "Ode to Joy", and the locations included the Sydney Opera House, the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin, and the UN General Assembly Building in New York City. Artistic programme The artistic programme provides the idiosyncratic element of the opening ceremony. Olympic founder Pierre de Coubertin's initial vision for the modern Olympics featured both athletic competitions and artistic achievements. As the modern Olympics has evolved into a celebration of sport, it is the opening ceremony that most clearly exhibits Coubertin's overall ideal. The host nation has the freedom to comprehensively showcase its past, present and future through the artistic programme, which serves as an international platform for the host to promote its national identity, soft power and global image, through a blend of tradition, innovation and political symbolism. All protocols, artistic presentations, elements and rituals included in the opening ceremony must be approved by the IOC Executive Board. In accordance with current Olympic protocol, the opening ceremony typically begins with the entrance of the host nation's head of state (or other representative) and the president of the IOC, followed by the raising of the host nation's flag and the performance of its national anthem. The host's organizing committee selects the theme that will be incorporated into the various elements of the opening ceremony, including the artistic programme. For example, the theme for the 2008 Beijing Olympics was "Unity in China". On 12 May 2008, only four months before the start of the Games, a devastating earthquake occurred in Sichuan. Chinese basketball legend Yao Ming—chosen to be China's flagbearer at the opening ceremony—entered the stadium hand-in-hand with Lin Hao, a nine-year-old boy who had rescued some of his schoolmates following the earthquake. The 2024 artistic programme stirred controversy and drew criticism from some religious groups. According to Newsweek, the groups contended that the performance "appeared to reflect the Last Supper, invoking sacred Christian imagery with dancers, drag queens, and a DJ (Barbara Butch) in poses that resembled Jesus Christ's final meal with His Apostles." Theater director Thomas Jolly responded that his plan was for a "big pagan party linked to the gods of Olympus" and not to mock anyone. The Olympic World Library later published the media guide (written before the ceremony) which mentioned the performance being a homage to cultural festivities, and according to the Georgian fact-checking website, Myth Detector, many experts had pointed out the differences between the fresco and the segment. Parade of Nations leads the Parade of Nations during the opening ceremony of the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics. The Olympic Charter determines that the opening ceremony must contain a protocolar segment called the "Parade of Nations", during which most of the participating athletes march into the stadium, one delegation at a time. It is not compulsory for the athletes to participate in the parade; as it is common for some events of the Games to start before the opening ceremony, any athletes competing in those early events may elect not to march with their team. Each delegation is led by a sign showing the name of their National Olympic Committee (NOC) and by their flagbearer(s), who are typically notable athletes of that delegation. As an act of gender equality, beginning in 2020, the IOC has allowed the participating NOCs the option of having two flagbearers, one male and one female (in fact, some countries had already chosen to do this even before the option was instigated by the IOC). The Parade of Nations was added to the Olympic Games opening ceremonies in 1908. Since the 1928 Summer Olympics, the team from Greece has traditionally entered first, leading the parade in recognition of their role in the ancient Olympic Games, and the host nation's team enters the stadium last. Beginning with the 2020 Olympics, the Refugee Olympic Team enters second, after Greece, and the parade ends with the host nations of the next two Olympic Games in descending order, as the final two teams before the host nation (e.g. at the 2020 opening ceremony, the final three NOCs in the parade were the US, France, and Japan: hosts of the 2028, 2024, and 2020 Games, respectively). All of the remaining delegations enter the stadium after Greece and before the host nation, appearing in alphabetical order based on their NOC name in the host nation's official language. For example, Cyrillic script was used at the 1980 Summer Olympics in the then-Soviet Union (now Russia), the 1984 Winter Olympics in the then-Yugoslavia (now Bosnia and Herzegovina), and the 2014 Winter Olympics in Russia, while the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens used Modern Greek script. Games hosted by Canada have used either English or French since they are both both considered official languages; the 1988 and 2010 Winter Olympics in Calgary and Vancouver utilized English, but the 1976 Summer Olympics in Montreal used French due to it being a predominantly-French speaking region. Host nations whose official languages do not use Latin script—especially for Games held in Asia—have employed alternative collation methods for the Parade of Nations. At the 1988 Summer Olympics and the 2018 Winter Olympics (both held in South Korea), the NOCs were sorted by traditional Korean Hangul script; the 2008 Summer Olympics and the 2022 Winter Olympics (both held in Beijing) ordered the NOCs by the number of strokes used to write the team name using Simplified Chinese characters; and the 2020 Summer Olympics (held in Tokyo) used the Gojūon ordering of Japanese kana. and South Korea march as one during the opening ceremony of the PyeongChang 2018 Winter Olympics, which was hosted by South Korea. There have been a number of exceptions to this practice. When the Games were held in Japan in 1964 (summer), 1972 (winter), and 1998 (winter), the organizers chose to use the English language protocol order because the use of Japanese grammar would cause certain IOC protocol rules to be broken, and this was considered a goodwill sign by Japanese society. National and internal questions led Spain to also make an exception during the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona, with consideration for the Catalan independence movement and concerns over the Spanish language gaining undue prominence over the Catalan language; all official announcements during the 1992 Games were initially made in French, followed by Spanish, Catalan, and English (the order of these three languages interspersed), and the team order for the Parade of Nations was based on the French names of the delegations. The 2024 Summer Olympics' opening ceremony eschewed a stadium setting; its parade took the form of a boat parade along the Seine, with the artistic programme staged as presentations at various locations along the route. The athletes were then taken to Jardins du Trocadéro, where the official protocol was held. Opening protocols After all nations have entered the stadium, the president of the host city's Organizing Committee makes a speech, followed by the IOC president. At the conclusion of their remarks, the IOC president introduces the host country's representative or head of state to officially declare the Games open. Despite the Games being awarded to a particular city (rather than the country in general), the Olympic Charter presently requires the Games to be officially opened by the host country's head of state. The Olympic Charter provides that the person designated to open the Games should do so by reciting one of the following lines, as appropriate: • For the Summer Olympics (Games of the Olympiad): I declare open the Games of [name of the host city] celebrating the [ordinal number of the Olympiad] Olympiad of the modern era. • For the Winter Olympics: I declare open the [ordinal number] Olympic Winter Games of [name of the host city]. Before 1936, the opening dignitary would often make a short welcoming speech before declaring the Games open. However, since 1936, when Adolf Hitler opened both the 1936 Winter Olympics in Garmisch Partenkirchen and the 1936 Summer Olympics in Berlin, the standard formula has been used. There have been several occasions on which the official has modified the wording of the opening line specified in the Olympic Charter. Recent editions of the Winter Games have seen a trend of using a modification of the first version, instead of the second, which happened in 2002, 2006 and 2010. Other modifications have included: • In 1964, Emperor Hirohito of Japan, and Emperor Naruhito in 2020, opened the Summer Olympics in Tokyo by speaking in Japanese, albeit with slightly different translations: :"Celebrating the 18th/Commemorating the 32nd Modern Olympiad, I will declare the opening of the Olympic Games Tokyo competition here." • In 1968, Mexican president Gustavo Díaz Ordaz declared the opening of the Games of Mexico City by speaking in Spanish: :"Today, 12 October 1968", and then the standard formula followed. • In 1976, Elizabeth II, as Queen of Canada, opened the Montreal Olympics (first in French then in English) with: :"I declare open the Olympic Games of 1976, celebrating the XXI Olympiad of the modern era." • In 1980, Leonid Brezhnev, as General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, opened the Moscow Summer Olympics by speaking in Russian: :"Mr President of International Olympic Committee! Sportsmen of the world! Dear guests! Comrades! I declare open the Olympic Games of 1980, celebrating the XXII Olympiad of the modern era." • In 1984, US President Ronald Reagan opened the Los Angeles Summer Olympics with: :"Celebrating the XXIII Olympiad of the modern era, I declare open the Olympic Games of Los Angeles." • In 1992, King Juan Carlos I of Spain opened the Barcelona Summer Olympics with: :"(In Catalan) Welcome all to Barcelona. (In Spanish) Today, 25 July of the Year 1992," and then the standard formula followed. • In 2002, US President George W. Bush opened the Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City (which took place five months after the September 11 attacks) using the format of the Summer Games declaration with: :"On behalf of a proud, determined and grateful nation," and then the standard formula followed. • In 2004, Konstantinos Stephanopoulos, the President of the Hellenic Republic, opened the Athens Summer Olympics, accompanied by the Adjutant to the President of the Hellenic Republic, Colonel Georgios Dritsakos of the Hellenic Air Force, by speaking in Greek: :"I declare the opening of the Olympic Games of Athens [...] and the celebration of the XXVIII Olympiad of the modern era." • In 2008, Hu Jintao, and in 2022, Xi Jinping, the General Secretaries of the Chinese Communist Party and Presidents of China, opened the Beijing Summer Olympics and Winter Olympics, respectively, by speaking in Mandarin: :"I declare, the XXIX Olympic Games / XXIV Olympic Winter Games of Beijing, open!" • In 2016, Brazilian vice president Michel Temer, as acting president during the suspension of President Dilma Rousseff, and unusually without an introduction, opened the Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro by speaking in Portuguese: :"After this wonderful spectacle," and then the standard formula followed. Next, the Olympic flag is carried into the stadium horizontally (a protocol first adopted at the 1960 Summer Olympics) or vertically (when the ceremonies are held indoors) and hoisted while the Olympic Hymn is played. In 2024, the flag was accidentally raised upside down. The Olympic Charter states that the Olympic flag must "fly for the entire duration of the Olympic Games from a flagpole placed in a prominent position in the main stadium". The final torchbearers at the 2022 Winter Olympics reflected China's history in Olympic sports, with athletes from different decades (beginning with the 1950s), and the cauldron was lit by two Chinese skiers due to compete at the 2022 Games. Under IOC rules, the lighting of the Olympic cauldron must be witnessed by those attending the opening ceremony, implying that it has to be lit at the location where the ceremony is taking place. Another IOC rule stipulates that the cauldron should also be visible outside to the residents of the entire host city. This rule was made evident for the first time during the 2010 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in Vancouver, which was the first to be held in a closed venue, the BC Place—then a domed, indoor stadium. A ceremonial cauldron was jointly lit by Nancy Greene Raine, Steve Nash, and Wayne Gretzky during the opening ceremony (due to a malfunction, an arm of the cauldron meant to be lit by Catriona Le May Doan did not rise), after which Gretzky was escorted outside to light a second, public cauldron at Jack Poole Plaza. The concept of a public cauldron has since been revisited by subsequent Olympics, including 2016 (due to its main cauldron being lit in a stadium that would not host events for the majority of the Games), 2020 (which was located on the bridge crossing the Ariake West Canal; the cauldron could not be placed on Japan National Stadium's roof due to fire codes, as it was largely constructed from wood), and 2024 (which was a tethered balloon at the Tuileries Garden in Paris; it was public by design due to the opening ceremonies being held outside of a stadium). The 2022 and 2026 Winter Olympics both utilized multiple flames due to their venues being dispersed across multiple locations, with 2022 having a flame at Beijing National Stadium (Olympic Green), Yanqing District, and in Zhangjiakou to reflect the three venue clusters, while 2026 utilized two cauldrons in Cortina d'Ampezzo and Milan due to them being billed as joint host cities. 2022 also marked the first Olympics to not use a cauldron, with the final torchbearers instead mounting the torch in a larger sculpture. The tradition of releasing live doves was discontinued after several perched themselves at the cauldron's rim and were burned alive by the Olympic flame during the opening ceremony of the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul. The release of live doves has since been replaced with a symbolic release, in which imagery of doves are incorporated as a motif in one of the artistic segments of the ceremony: ==Medal presentation==

at the London 2012 Summer Olympics A medal ceremony is conducted after the completion of every Olympic event. At the Summer Games, the ceremony usually takes place immediately after the event at the respective venues. At the Winter Games, however, the tradition is to present the medals at an evening victory ceremony held at the 'medal plaza' (except for the indoor and some specific events). The reason for this is that the presentation of medals may be difficult in the high-altitude environments of some of the winter events. A three-tiered rostrum (raised platform) is used for the three medal winners, the gold medal winner ascending to the highest platform (in the center), with the silver and bronze medalists flanking. The medals are awarded by a member of the IOC, usually accompanied by a representative of the sport's international federation (such as World Athletics in athletics or World Aquatics in swimming), who presents each athlete with a small bouquet of flowers. Volunteer citizens of the host country take part as hosts during the medal ceremonies, to act as flagbearers and assist the officials presenting the medals. When the Games were held in Athens in 2004, the medal winners also received olive wreaths in honor of the tradition at the Ancient Olympics. At the 2016 Summer Olympics, for the first time in history, the flowers were replaced by a small 3D model of the Games' logo. At the 2018 Winter Olympics, the flowers were substituted by a special version of the plush toy of the mascot dressed in traditional Korean clothing. After the medals have been distributed, the three medalists' national flags are raised. The flag of the gold medalist's country is in the center and elevated the highest, the flag of the silver medalist's country is on the left (when viewed from the front), and the flag of the bronze medalist's country is on the right, both at lower elevations than the gold medalist's national flag. While the flags are raised, the national anthem of the gold medalist's country is played. In the event of there being multiple athletes tied for the gold medal (as was the case for the two gold medalists in the men's high jump at the 2020 Games), their national anthems (if from multiple NOCs) are played in the order of the medalists' surnames alphabetically. Strict rules govern the conduct of athletes during the medal ceremony. For example, they are required to wear only preapproved outfits that are standard for the athlete's national Olympic team. They are not allowed to display any political affiliation or make a political statement while on the medal stand. For their actions, IOC president Avery Brundage demanded their expulsion from the Olympics. After the US Olympic Committee (USOC) refused to do so, Brundage threatened to remove the entire US track and field team from the Olympics; the USOC then complied and expelled Smith and Carlos from the Olympic Village. It is customary for the men's and women's marathon medals (Summer Olympics, since 2020) and the men's 50 km and women's 30 km cross-country skiing medals (Winter Olympics, since 2014) to be awarded as part of the closing ceremony in the Olympic Stadium, traditionally the last medal presentation of the Games. ==Closing==

Traditionally more relaxed and festive than the opening ceremony, many elements of the closing ceremony have evolved historically through traditions rather than official rules and procedures. The closing ceremony has been required to occur on a Sunday evening. Between 1896 and 2000, in addition to the anthem of the host country, it was common for the Greek anthem and the anthem of the next host country to be played in this opening segment. Due to changes implemented in 2005, it is common that the closing ceremony begins with the entrance of the IOC president and the head of state or representative of the host country, followed by the raising of the host country's flag and a performance of its national anthem, followed by an artistic programme. Final medal ceremony Starting at the 2004 Summer Olympics, after all the national flags and athletes have entered the stadium, the final medal presentation of the Games is held. Consulting with the IOC, the Organizing Committee of the respective host city may determine which event will have its medals presented. This protocol segment won more highlight during the closing ceremonies of the 1980 Summer Olympics, as the US was scheduled to host the next Summer Olympics, was the time of the US anthem being played while its flag was raised, the flag of Los Angeles was raised with the Olympic Anthem played instead of "The Star-Spangled Banner" as consequence of the constraints who led to the 1980 Summer Olympics boycott. In Sydney and Athens, two Greek flags were raised because Greece was hosting the 2004 Games. During the modern Olympic history, five protocolar flags are used: • The Antwerp flag was presented to the IOC at the 1920 Summer Olympics by the city of Antwerp, Belgium, and was passed on to the next organizing city of the Summer Olympics through the 1984 Summer Games in Los Angeles, California, when this flag wore out over time and ended up tearing. • The Oslo flag was used during the Winter Games and was presented to the IOC at the 1952 Winter Olympics by the city of Oslo, Norway, and is passed on to the next organizing city of the Winter Olympics. This flag was used until the 2014 Games in Sochi, Russia, when this flag also wore out over time and ended up tearing. Until the adoption of the PyeongChang flag, it had been common to use several replicas of this flag during the handover ceremonies, as it was kept inside a transparent box and was delivered to the next headquarters shortly after the end of the closing ceremony in a separate location at the Olympic Stadium. Due to the conditions of conservation and its aged cloth, this flag faded and needed to be replaced. Official closing of the Games Afterward, the president of the host city's Organizing Committee makes a speech. The IOC president then makes a speech before closing the Olympics by saying:And now, I declare the Games of the [ordinal number of modern Olympiads] Olympiad/[ordinal number of Winter Olympics] Olympic Winter Games closed; and in accordance with our tradition, I call upon the youth of the world to assemble, four years from now, in [name of next host city] to celebrate with us; the Games of the [subsequent ordinal number of Summer Olympics] Olympiad/[subsequent ordinal number of Winter Olympics] Olympic Winter Games.If the next Olympic Games is not scheduled for four years after the current one, the IOC president will instead reference the different timeframe. For instance, the 2020 Summer Olympics were postponed to 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, so IOC President Thomas Bach instead stated "I call upon the youth of the world to assemble, three years from now, in Paris." A similar situation occurred at the 1992 Winter Olympics, which were held only two years before the next Winter Olympics in 1994 so that the Summer and Winter Games would be in different years moving forward. Unlike the opening ceremony, the head of state or representative of the host country does not give a speech at the closing ceremony. Finally, the Olympic cauldron is extinguished, marking the end of the current Games and the start of a new cycle. and the 2018 Winter Olympic Games opening and closing ceremonies were focused on the Korean Wave movement, with boy group Exo as performers. The IOC also added a performance by the Dutch DJ Martin Garrix. == References ==