2004 Summer Olympics opening ceremony 2004 Summer Olympics opening ceremony The opening ceremony of the 2004 Summer Olympic Games was held on August 13, 2004 at the Olympic Stadium in Maroussi, Greece, a suburb of Athens. 72,000 spectators attended the event, with approximately 15,000 athletes from 202 countries participating in the ceremony as well. It marked the first-ever international broadcast of high definition television, undertaken by the U.S. broadcaster NBC and the Japanese broadcaster NHK. The opening ceremony began with a twenty-eight second countdown—one second per Olympics held since Athens last hosted the first modern games—paced by the sounds of an amplified heartbeat played by
2011 European Youth Summer Olympic Festival 2011 European Youth Summer Olympic Festival The 2011 European Youth Summer Olympic Festival was held in Trabzon, Turkey, between 23 and 29 July 2011. There were nine sports at the 2011 Festival, two branches, table tennis and water polo, less than compared with the 2007 Youth Olympic Festival's programme. Medals were awarded in a total of 109 events. For the 2011 European Youth Summer Olympic Festival's eight events except cycling, eleven sports venues were needed in and around Trabzon. Existing sport halls were renovated and new arenas were built for this purpose with a total investment cost mounting up to