Olympic Games ceremony a standard 18-event program was established. In order to open a Games in ancient Greece the organizers would hold an Inauguration Festival. This was followed by a ceremony in which athletes took an oath of sportsmanship. The first competition, an artistic competition of trumpeters and heralds, concluded the opening festivities. The Olympic opening ceremonies represent the official commencement of an Olympic Games. In recent Olympics, athletic competition began prior to the opening ceremonies. For example, the football competitions for both men and women at the 2008 Summer Olympics began two days prior to the opening ceremonies. The 2014 Winter Olympics
Olympic Athletes from Russia at the 2018 Winter Olympics Olympic Athletes from Russia at the 2018 Winter Olympics Olympic Athlete from Russia (OAR) is the International Olympic Committee's (IOC) designation of select Russian athletes permitted to participate in the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea. The designation was instigated following the suspension of the Russian Olympic Committee after the Olympic doping controversy. This was the first time since the Unified Team of 1992 that Russian athletes had participated under the neutral Olympic flag. During the 2018 Winter Olympics, two athletes from this team tested positive for banned substances and were found guilty of doping by the Court of