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
1984 Summer Olympics torch relay Thorpe, and Gina Hemphill, granddaughter of Jesse Owens, being given the honor of becoming the first torchbearers. The relay featured 3,636 torchbearers and spanned a distance of around , at the time the longest distance of any Olympic relay. Rafer Johnson, an Olympic decathlon gold medalist, was the final torchbearer. 1984 Summer Olympics torch relay The 1984 Summer Olympics torch relay was run from May 8 until July 28, prior to the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles. The route covered around across the United States and involved over 3,600 torchbearers. Rafer Johnson lit the cauldron at the opening ceremony.