"stadium of Lillehammer by a ski jumper. In Beijing 2008, Li Ning ""ran"" on air around the Bird's Nest and lit the flame. In Vancouver 2010, four athletes—Catriona Le May Doan, Wayne Gretzky, Steve Nash and Nancy Greene—were given the honour of lighting the flame simultaneously indoors before Wayne Gretzky transferred the flame to an outdoor cauldron at Vancouver's waterfront. Other famous last bearers of the torch include heavyweight boxing champion Muhammad Ali (1996), Australian aboriginal runner Cathy Freeman (2000), Brazilian marathon runner Vanderlei de Lima (2016), and South Korean figure skater Yuna Kim (2018). On other occasions, the people"
"1996 Summer Olympics opening ceremony The opening ceremony of the 1996 Summer Olympics took place in the evening on Friday 19 July in the Centennial Olympic Stadium, Atlanta, United States. As mandated by the Olympic Charter, the proceedings combined the formal and ceremonial opening of this international sporting event, including welcoming speeches, hoisting of the flags and the parade of athletes, with an artistic spectacle to showcase the host nation’s culture and history. The Olympic cauldron was lit by former gold medalist and boxing champion Muhammad Ali. The ceremony features Award-winning and Grammy Award-time nominated film composer, John Williams, French"
"1996 Summer Olympics torch relay The 1996 Summer Olympics torch relay was run from April 27, 1996, until July 19, 1996, prior to the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta. The route covered across the United States and included a trek on the Pony Express, a ride on the Union Pacific Railroad, and a torch was taken into space for the first time. The relay involved over 12,000 torchbearers, including Muhammad Ali, who was chosen to light the Olympic cauldron. The torch was designed by Malcolm Grear and featured 22 aluminum ""reeds"" intended to represent the number of times that the"
"1996 Summer Olympics closing ceremony The Closing Ceremony of the 1996 Summer Olympics took place on August 4, 1996, at the Centennial Olympic Stadium in Atlanta, United States at approximately 8:00 PM EDT (UTC -4). It was produced by Don Mischer. The official motto of the closing ceremony is ""An American Day of Inspiration"". The closing ceremony began after a 126-second countdown in tribute to all the past Summer Olympic Games with the Atlanta Olympic Band, led by John Williams, performing ""Summon the Heroes."" The R&B group Boyz II Men sang The Star Spangled Banner. The presentation of the medals"
"against poverty""), Leymah Gbowee (as ""a great peacemaker""), Shami Chakrabarti (for ""her integrity""), Daniel Barenboim (for bringing ""harmony in place of discord""), and Marina Silva (as UN Champion of the Earth). The flag paused in front of Muhammad Ali (invited to represent 'respect, confidence, conviction, dedication, generosity and spiritual strength'), who held it for a few moments. Ali, who had lit the flame at the 1996 Atlanta Games, was accompanied by his wife Lonnie and appeared frail. The flag was received by a colour guard of Her Majesty's Armed Forces and hoisted to the Olympic Hymn, performed by the LSO"
"quarter of the relay runners. They gave nomination forms away as part of a promotional deal with 12-packs of their cans with the entries largely being selected at random. The end of the relay took place on July 19, 1996, at the opening ceremony in Atlanta. Four-time gold medal-winning discus thrower Al Oerter carried the torch to the stadium, passing it to Evander Holyfield. Holyfield was then joined by Voula Patoulidou and the pair passed the flame to American swimmer Janet Evans, the penultimate torchbearer, who carried it around a lap of the track and up a long ramp leading"
"and dance along with the music. Among the performers were: A fireworks display officially closed the segment, though the performers continued to play music. 1996 Summer Olympics closing ceremony The Closing Ceremony of the 1996 Summer Olympics took place on August 4, 1996, at the Centennial Olympic Stadium in Atlanta, United States at approximately 8:00 PM EDT (UTC -4). It was produced by Don Mischer. The official motto of the closing ceremony is ""An American Day of Inspiration"". The closing ceremony began after a 126-second countdown in tribute to all the past Summer Olympic Games with the Atlanta Olympic Band,"
"1996 Summer Paralympics The 1996 Paralympic Games in Atlanta, USA were held from August 16 to 25. It was the first Paralympics to get mass media sponsorship, and had a budget of USD $81 million. It was the first Paralympic Games where International Sports Federation for Persons with an Intellectual Disability athletes were given full medal status. The mascot for the Paralympic Summer Games in Atlanta 1996 was Blaze. Blaze was created by Trevor Stone Irvin of Irvin Productions in Atlanta. Blaze is a phoenix, a mythical bird that rises from ashes to experience a renewed life. The phoenix appears"
"hand of Alberto Tomba, who then passed the flame to the hands of the 1994 men's Italian cross-country skiing relay team (Marco Albarello, Giorgio Vanzetta, Maurilio De Zolt, and Silvio Fauner). The flame was then passed to Piero Gros, then Deborah Compagnoni before the Olympic Flame was lit by former Italian cross-country skier Stefania Belmondo. Belmondo paused to show the torch to the cheering crowd one last time before placing it on the arched lighting apparatus. The flame initiated a series of fireworks before lighting the top of the 57-meter high Olympic Flame, the highest in the history of the"
"1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta, Georgia. The largest delegations from the Solomon Islands included four athletes and appeared in 1988 and 1996. Up to and including the Beijing games, there had not been a Solomon Islander who had won a medal at the Olympics. During the 2008 Summer Olympics, three athletes (one male and two female) participated across two sports in three distinct events. Pauline Kwalea, the year's female sprinter, was the youngest member of the delegation at 20 years old. Male sprinter Francis Manioru, at 26 years old, was the oldest. Weighlifter Wendy Hale bore the flag of the"
"time, entered the stadium first. The torch was passed on, in sequential order, to Greek football legend Mimis Domazos, 1992 Hurdles champion Voula Patoulidou, 1996 Olympic weightlifting champion Kakhi Kakhiashvili, and 1996 Olympic gymnastics champion Ioannis Melissanidis. The torch was finally passed to the 1996 Olympic sailing champion Nikolaos Kaklamanakis, who lit a giant cigar-shaped tapered column resembling a torch—not, as usual, a cauldron—to burn during the duration of the 2004 Summer Olympics. As Kaklamanakis ascended the steps to light the cauldron, the cauldron seemed to bow down to him, symbolizing that despite advance of technology, technology is still a"
"1996 Summer Olympics The 1996 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XXVI Olympiad, commonly known as Atlanta 1996, and also referred to as the Centennial Olympic Games, were an international multi-sport event that was held from July 19 to August 4, 1996, in Atlanta, Georgia, United States. These Games, which were the fourth Summer Olympics to be hosted by the United States, marked the centenary of the 1896 Summer Olympics in Athens—the inaugural edition of the modern Olympic Games. They were also the first since 1924 to be held in a different year from a Winter Olympics,"
"Basil Poledouris. Muhammad Ali lit the Olympic cauldron and later received a replacement gold medal for his boxing victory in the 1960 Summer Olympics. For the torch ceremony, more than 10,000 Olympic torches were manufactured by the American Meter Company and electroplated by Erie Plating Company. Each torch weighed about and was made primarily of aluminum, with a Georgia pecan wood handle and gold ornamentation. The 1996 Summer Olympic programme featured 271 events in 26 sports. Softball, beach volleyball and mountain biking debuted on the Olympic program, together with women's football and lightweight rowing. In women's gymnastics, Lilia Podkopayeva became"
"song was so moving that it became the unofficial anthem of the Atlanta games. At the Closing Ceremony, the children of Atlanta performed the song as their farewell to the world. To close out the ceremony, Jessye Norman performed the song ""Faster, Higher, Stronger."" 1996 Summer Olympics opening ceremony The opening ceremony of the 1996 Summer Olympics took place in the evening on Friday 19 July in the Centennial Olympic Stadium, Atlanta, United States. As mandated by the Olympic Charter, the proceedings combined the formal and ceremonial opening of this international sporting event, including welcoming speeches, hoisting of the flags"
"The ceremony began with a 60-second countdown, which included footage from all of the previous Olympic Games. There was then a flashback to the closing ceremony of the 1992 Olympics in Barcelona, showing the then president of the IOC, Juan Antonio Samaranch, inviting the athletes to compete in Atlanta in 1996. Then, spirits ascended in the northwest corner of the stadium, each representing one of the colors in the Olympic rings. The spirits called the tribes of the world which, after mixed percussion, formed the Olympic rings while the youth of Atlanta formed the number 100. Famed film score composer"
"Also recognized was the symbolic unified march of athletes from North Korea and South Korea under the Korean Unification Flag. The country of Kiribati made a debut at these games and East Timor made a debut under its own flag. After the Parade of Nations, during which the Dutch DJ Tiësto provided the music, the Icelandic singer Björk performed the song Oceania, written specially for the event by her and the poet Sjón. The Opening Ceremony culminated in the lighting of the Olympic Cauldron by 1996 Gold Medalist Windsurfer Nikolaos Kaklamanakis. Many key moments in the ceremony, including the lighting"
"to a thunderous ovation on the stage in the middle of the field. Holyfield ran the torch down to the track and was joined by Greek athlete Voula Patoulidou. They both held the flame and made a lap around the track. This symbolized the relationship between the first and current Olympic games. The pair then passed the flame to American swimmer Janet Evans, the penultimate torchbearer, carried it around a lap of the track and up a long ramp leading towards the northern end of the stadium. After more than 10,000 torch bearers, Muhammad Ali, who suffered from Parkinson's disease,"
"separate opening ceremony events. Savannah, because of its geographical separation from Atlanta, had its own opening ceremonies on July 18, 1996. The event featured ""Worldwide Connection"", a song composed by Savannah native Jeffrey Reed and a concert by Trisha Yearwood, a Georgia native. Atlanta's Olympic slogan ""Come Celebrate Our Dream"" was written by Jack Arogeti, a Managing Director at McCann-Erickson in Atlanta at the time. The slogan was selected from more than 5,000 submitted by the public to the Atlanta Convention and Visitors Bureau. Billy Payne noted that Jack ""captured the spirit and our true motivation for the Olympic games."""
"appearance of the flame being carried away into the sky, flying in a northeasterly direction out across Sydney Harbour and ultimately towards Athens in a symbolic handover. In honour of her gold medal win during the games, Cathy Freeman represented Oceania in carrying the Olympic flag, joining Archbishop Desmond Tutu (Africa), John Glenn (The Americas), Kazuyoshi Funaki (Asia), Lech Wałęsa (Europe), Jean-Michel Cousteau (Environment), Jean-Claude Killy (Sport), and Steven Spielberg (Culture) when it was raised again, at the XIX Olympic Winter Games in Salt Lake City; the opening ceremony there took place on 8 February 2002. The 2000 Summer Olympic"
"Greece, the most extensive in the history of the Games. The flame then landed at Los Angeles International Airport on April 27, 1996, and was met with a welcome ceremony. The first torchbearer of the American part of the relay, Rafer Johnson, was the final torchbearer at the 1984 Summer Olympics held in Los Angeles. It went on to visit 42 states and 29 state capitols along a journey of . The torch was carried by 12,467 bearers including 2,000 former Olympians or other people somehow linked to the Olympic movement, 5,500 people who had been nominated locally as ""community"
"welcoming everybody to the Games. Then U.S. President Bill Clinton opens the games by saying, ""I declare open the Games of Atlanta, celebrating the XXVI Olympiad of the modern era."" Then the Olympic flag made its entrance. It was carried by 8 American Olympians from the past while the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra performed the tune ""Simple Gifts."" Then The Olympic flag was raised while the Olympic Hymn was played by the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra and sung by the Centennial Olympic Choir. Following the flag raising, 100 kids ran paper-maiche doves around the stadium symbolizing the peaceful gathering of athletes from"
"towards the northern end of the stadium. The identity of the final torchbearer had been kept secret and was only revealed when Muhammad Ali appeared at the top of the ramp. Ali, who had won gold at the 1960 Games in Rome and later developed Parkinson's disease, lit a mechanical torch which then travelled along a wire, lighting the cauldron at the top of a tower. His appearance has been referred to as being one of the most inspiring, poignant, and emotional moments in Olympic history. 1996 Summer Olympics torch relay The 1996 Summer Olympics torch relay was run from"
"1996 Summer Olympics medal table The 1996 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XXVI Olympiad, were a summer multi-sport event held in Atlanta, Georgia, United States from 19 July to 4 August 1996. A total of 10,318 athletes from 197 National Olympic Committees (NOCs), competed in 271 events in 26 sports. Athletes from 79 NOCs won at least one medal, leaving 118 countries without a medal. The United States won the most gold medals (44), as well as the most medals overall (101). It also won its first medal in a women's' team sport, the victorious gymnastics"
"united for the first time in nearly a century, and a wave of emotion swept the stadium, but nothing compared to the roar that greeted the Australian team. Herb Elliot, 1,500m gold medallist at Rome, ran with the torch into Stadium Australia and handed it to Betty Cuthbert, whose wheelchair was pushed by Raelene Boyle. Dawn Fraser, Shirley Strickland de la Hunty, Shane Gould and Debbie Flintoff-King then carried the flame in tribute to 100 years of women's participation in the Olympics. Finally the Torch was handed to Cathy Freeman, Australia's favourite who was given the honour of lighting the"
"19 July to 4 August 1996; 10,318 athletes represented 194 National Olympic Committees. The São Tomé and Príncipe delegation consisted of two sprinters, Sortelina Pires and Odair Baia. Pires was chosen as the flag bearer for the opening ceremony. Odair Baia was 18 years old at the time of the Atlanta Olympics, and was making his Olympic debut. On 26 July, he took part in the heats of the men's 100 metres; assigned to heat eight, he finished ninth in his heat with a time of 11.05 seconds. Only the top 3 from a heat advanced, and he was eliminated."
"and their processions, and vetter from Norse mythology. After speeches by Heiberg and IOC president Juan Antonio Samaranch, the games were officially declared opened by King Harald V. The Olympic Flame was to be skied down the skijump before lighting the cauldron. Originally this task had rested upon Ole Gunnar Fidjestøl, but after he was injured in a practice jump, his back-up Stein Gruben received the honor. The cauldron was lit by Crown Prince Haakon Magnus. The Olympic oaths were issued by Vegard Ulvang for the athletes and Kari Kåring for the officials. Since the 1992 Games, the rules for"
"have taken part in every Summer Olympics since then, making Atlanta their fourth appearance in a Summer Olympiad. They have never participated in a Winter Olympic Games. The 1996 Summer Olympics were held from 19 July to 4 August 1996; 10,318 athletes represented 194 National Olympic Committees. The Bhutanese delegation to Atlanta consisted of two archers, Jubzhang Jubzhang and Ugyen Ugyen. Jubzhang was chosen as the flag bearer for the opening ceremony. Archery is the national sport of the Kingdom. Jubzhang Jubzhang was 25 years old at the time of the Atlanta Olympics, and had previously represented Bhutan at the"
"Canadian singer Celine Dion and American singer Gladys Knight. The ceremony attendance was 85,600. It was watched by an estimated 3.5billion viewers worldwide. The ceremony began with a countdown at the screen coming from 60 to 1. Starting at 22, footage from previous games appeared with Atlanta at the end complete with an image of fireworks. The segment began by airing a flashback from the Barcelona 1992 Summer Olympics closing ceremony in August 1992 which showed International Olympic Committee President Juan Antonio Samaranch inviting the athletes to compete in Atlanta in 1996. Spirits then rose from the northwest corner of"
"Park Ji-Sung, football player in Republic of Korea, was the second person to hold the torch. After the flame touring around Greece for a week, it reached the Acropolis on 30th of October. There were 36 ceremonies held in different cities over a week, then the flame arrived to the PyeongChang Panathenaic Stadium. More than 500 torchbearers participated to follow the rituals of Olympic cycle, and carried the message of peace. In the stadium, Opera soloist Sumi Hwang sang the Olympic anthem during the torch lighting ceremony. The final person to hold the torch was Inbee Park, the golfer from"
"Robyn Perry Robyn Ainsworth (born Robyn Perry in 1975) was a 12-year-old schoolgirl and figure skater who lit the Olympic Flame in the opening ceremony for the 1988 Winter Olympics. On Feb. 13, 1988, she was the final runner in the Olympic torch relay and was chosen to ignite the giant cauldron at McMahon Stadium, kicking off the Calgary Winter Olympics. Downhill skier Ken Read and speed skater Cathy Priestner handed off the torch to her. During the ascent, Perry had to yell to one of the athletes to get out of her way. In an interview with the 2010"
"the opening ceremonies of the 1998 Winter Olympics; opening ceremony there took place on February 7, 1998. After the lowering of the Olympic flag and the singing of the Olympic Hymn, some 600 children from Atlanta ranging from ages six though twelve sang a rendition of ""The Power of the Dream"", which was performed by Celine Dion in the opening ceremony. The segment started with ten-year-old Rachel McMullin singing the first stanza. As the song progresses more children join in creating a full choir. The children line up and hold hands to form the Atlantic Olympic emblem while holding up"
"Richard Jewell Richard Allensworth Jewell (born Richard White; December 17, 1962 – August 29, 2007) was an American police officer and security guard. While working as a security guard for AT&T, he became known in connection with the Centennial Olympic Park bombing at the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta, Georgia. Discovering a backpack filled with three pipe bombs on the park grounds, Jewell alerted police and helped to evacuate the area before the bomb exploded, saving many people from injury or death. Initially hailed by the media as a hero, Jewell was later considered a suspect. Jewell's case is considered"
"of the Olympic cauldron. As a result of protests following the incident, the last time live doves were released at the opening ceremony was in 1992 in Barcelona, hours before the flame was lit. Balloon doves were released in 1994 at the Lillehammer Winter Games and paper doves were used at the Atlanta Ceremony in 1996. These were also the last Summer Olympic Games to hold the Opening Ceremony during the daytime. The opening ceremony featured a skydiving team descending over the stadium and forming the five-colored Olympic Rings, as well as a mass demonstration of taekwondo. The skydiving team"