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
1976 Summer Olympics torch relay cm urn in the Canadian city. For the first time in the history of the torch relay two athletes lit the cauldron. The two final torch-bearers, Stéphane Préfontaine and Sandra Henderson, were 15 and 16 years old, respectively. There were erroneous reports of the pair getting married soon after their role in the ceremony. Though the flame had reached the Olympic Stadium and was used to mark the opening of the Games the relay actually continued to a second venue. Many sailing and yachting events were going to be held in Kingston, Ontario and the flame was taken there using