2004 Summer Olympics opening ceremony Bowl Halftime Show. But the negative reaction was lukewarm at best since the Greeks presented the float as part of an exhibit. 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
Saudi Arabia at the 2012 Summer Olympics athletes had competed in Beijing, including discus thrower Sultan Mubarak Al-Dawoodi, who became the nation's flag bearer at the opening ceremony. Saudi Arabia left London with only a bronze medal, won by the equestrian team members Ramzy Al Duhami, Abdullah Al Saud, Kamal Bahamdan, and Abdullah Sharbatly in show jumping. In the previous games, Saudi Arabia had always sent exclusively male teams. Women's participation in sports is greatly restricted within the country, and Saudi Arabia does not permit women to compete in the Olympics. In June 2010, the International Olympic Committee said it would "press" Saudi Arabia (along with Qatar