1996 Summer Olympics opening ceremony 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
2014 Winter Olympics opening ceremony 2014 Winter Olympics opening ceremony The opening ceremony of the 2014 Winter Olympics took place at the Fisht Olympic Stadium in Sochi, Russia, on 7 February 2014. It began at 20:14 MSK () and finished at 23:02 MSK (). It was filmed and produced by OBS and Russian host broadcaster VGTRK. This was the first Winter Olympics and first Olympic Games opening ceremony under the IOC presidency of Thomas Bach. This was also the second consecutive Winter Olympic opening ceremony to be held in an indoor stadium. The Games were officially opened by President Vladimir Putin. An audience of 40,000