Greece at the Olympics while Greece has also hosted the 2004 Summer Olympics. During the parade of nations at the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games, Greece always enters the stadium first and leads the parade to honor its status as the birthplace of the Olympics, with the notable exception of 2004 when Greece entered last as the host nation. Before the Games the Olympic Flame is lit in Olympia, the site of the Ancient Olympic Games, in a ceremony that reflects ancient Greek rituals and initiates the Olympic torch relay. The flag of Greece is always hoisted in the closing ceremony, along with
2012 Summer Paralympics opening ceremony that Paralympic athletes would also be "smashing ceilings" throughout the Games. Writing in the Independent Jerome Taylor notes that the ceremony was more structured and the music more classical than the Olympic equivalent "but it was still infused with simmering political radicalism and social commentary." Taylor also states that the Ceremony was a celebration of humankind overcoming the impossible. While Charles Perrin in the Daily Express states that after the Olympics the opening ceremony of the Paralympics "won the hearts and minds of the public with a truly memorable show." Perrin adds that "there was a palpable sense of awe