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
2008 Summer Olympics opening ceremony stadium through to the Olympic cauldron, which at this moment was still not shown. As he ran along the upper wall of the stadium, the projection displayed a scroll opening ahead of him, on which was beamed footage of previous torch relays around the world. At the final moment, a spotlight revealed the final resting place of the Olympic flame, which had appeared during the torch run. A colossal torch situated at the top of the stadium was lit by a proportionately large fuse. A flurry of spectacular fireworks of various colours and shapes, some projecting Olympic rings, others forming