Lavish welcome ceremony

ATHENS, Greece: The Summer Games returned to its birthplace yesterday in an epic homecoming that joined the gods of ancient Greece and modern sport. The biggest parade of nations in the Games’ history began with an announcer’s cry of “Welcome back to Greece!” and culminated with a Greek windsurfing champion lighting the cauldron at the end of a slender 31-metre (102-foot) arm that rose slowly over one end of the Olympic Stadium. It was a moment many doubted Greek organisers could pull off, after years of worrisome delays and constant pressure to bolster the most expensive security network ever at an Olympics. The opening ceremony also closed an important circle in sports, from the Games’ innocent rebirth in 1896 to the latest Olympic gathering of the world’s greatest athletes under 202 flags in an age beset by terrorism and instability. At dusk, a countdown video filled a huge screen at the stadium — whose weblike canopy was bolted into place only last month. The numbers clicked down from 28: one second for each of the games scheduled since the first modern Olympiad in an all-marble arena in central Athens.

Then, with a blast of fireworks, the ceremony was fully underway. Minutes later, the five Olympic rings were ablaze. “We did it! We did it!” chanted a group of Greeks in the stands waving their flag. A round-the-clock work blitz — under broiling sun and blinding spotlights — managed to pull together the vast network of venues, transport links, villages and security needed for the athletes and heads of state at the first Summer Games since the September 11, 2001, attacks. A sign of the security measures floated overhead — a blimp with supersensitive spyware. Outside sat symbols of the delays — dirt expanses instead of landscaped paths, idle cranes and trees planted just last week. The ceremony’s spectacle — tradition mixed with Las Vegas-style fanfare — celebrated Greek history, culture and civilisation. After the burning Olympic flames subsided, a boy on a replica of a ship sailed into the arena, waving a small Greek flag. Then the centaur — the mythological half-man, half-horse — waded into the water and tossed a spear of light representing a javelin. From the centre of the stadium rose a statue representing an ancient form from Greece’s Cyclades islands.

The form broke apart to reveal other figures from Greek history. The ancient god of love, Eros, flew above two lovers dancing and playing in the water. Then Eros hovered over a procession of figures from Greek history — from ancient vase paintings to a tribute to the Greek shepherd, Spiros Louis, who won the first Olympic marathon. “The great moment has come!” cried the announcer in the stadium. Moments later, the parade of athletes began with the appearance of Greek weightlifter Pyrros Dimas, who is seeking his fourth consecutive gold medal. Behind him, more than 10,500 athletes streamed into the stadium. There was huge applause for Afghanistan on its return to Olympic competition after an eight-year absence and with its first women athletes. Coach Nina Suratger, in a shimmering green robe and head scarf, carried the flag. The entrance of the more than 500-member US team — led by basketball guard Dawn Staley — drew cheers.

But some people also stood and put their thumbs down in an apparent show of displeasure for the war in Iraq. Moments later, the Iraqis entered to a roaring ovation. China’s team was led by 7-foot-6 (2.23-metre) Yao Ming, who carried his country’s flag and towered over even other basketball giants. Paraguay carried a banner that read “From Horror to Hope” in apparent reference to the supermarket fire that killed nearly 400 people earlier this month. For nearly two hours, the teams filed in: Russians in 1920s-style white outfits to first-time Olympians from the tiny Pacific nation of Kiribati in woven grass costumes, Tajik women in gold headdresses, Moldovan women in hot pink pantsuits and men from Burundi dancing with spears. Greece traditionally enters first because of its links to the ancient games.

But as the host nation, its more than 404 athletes were the last, exulting as the crowd chanted “Hellas! Hellas!” as the country is called in Greek. The team had two glaring holes, however. A doping scandal threatens the country’s biggest track stars — 200-metre champion Kostas Kenteris and 100-metre silver medallist Katerina Thanou. Kenteris had been considered the favourite to light the Olympic cauldron. Instead, he and Thanou were hospitalised with minor injuries after a motorcycle wreck. The accident came after the two were accused of evading a drug test, and they might even miss the Games. Instead, the honours went to Nikolaos Kaklamanakis, the windsurfing gold medallist from the centennial games that Greece wanted but Atlanta eventually won. For Greeks, it was a poignant choice.