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Olympic Opening and Closing Ceremonies

Opening Ceremonies

The opening ceremonies of the Olympic Games are always an impressive performance. They begin with the opening of the stadium to the public. The president of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and the president of the Organizing Committee for the Photograph of the Canadian flagbearer wearing red and white, Montr‚al 1976 Olympic Games (OCOG) welcome the head of state or representative of the organizing country of the Games. Then the parade of athletes starts, grouped by delegation, in alphabetical order, with the exception of Greece, which opens the parade in tribute to the founding country of the Games; athletes from the host country of the Games bring up the rear. Each delegation is preceded by a sign displaying the name of the country, and a bearer of the flag of the participating nation.

Spectacular performances...

Photograph of flagbearers with crowd in background, Montr‚al 1976 Once the parade of delegations has concluded, the president of the IOC and the president of the OCOG make their way to the platform erected on the ground in front of the tribune of honour, where they each deliver a speech of a maximum length of three minutes. The head of state or representative of the organizing country then declares the official opening of the Games. This is followed by the olympic anthem, after which the olympic flagPhotograph of Brian Orser wearing a red coat and a white cowboy hat, carrying the Canadian flag and leading the procession of Canadian athletes, Calgary 1988 is brought into the stadium, carried horizontally and then raised up the highest stadium flagpole. The olympic torch is then brought into the arena to complete its last stage. The last runner completes a lap around the track before lighting the cauldron, which will remain lit until the end of the Games. The pigeons are then released; this is a tradition that originally involved the release of doves, symbols of peace. The flag bearers from each delegation then gather in a semicircle around the platform, on which one athlete and one judge take the olympic oath on behalf of their colleagues. The national anthem of the host country is played and the performance begins.

Closing Ceremonies

In a similar manner to the opening ceremonies, the closing ceremonies are an imposing and moving event. The closing ceremonies take place on the last day of competition. Shortly after the speech of the OCOG president, the president of the IOC delivers the closing speech for the Olympic Games, during which he invites young people from the entire world to gather in four years in the host city of the next Olympic Games. With music playing, thePhotograph of seven performers dressed in white, carrying the olympic flag, Calgary 1988 olympic flame is extinguished, and then as the olympic anthem is played, the olympic flag is lowered slowly, laid out, and then taken out of the stadium, followed by the flag bearers. The performance accompanying the closing ceremonies starts immediately after the farewell song.

The organizing cities of the Games tend to vary the celebrations to certain extent, but the rituals are maintained, as indeed is the symbolism. For example, at the Nagano Games in 1998, about 2,000 balloons in the shape of doves were released, in which children's letters had been placed, each containing a message of peace. Each host city emphasizes in its own way, in its ceremonies and performances, the messages that it wishes to convey. Montréal and Calgary were no exceptions.