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
Great Britain at the 1908 Summer Olympics Great Britain at the 1908 Summer Olympics Great Britain, represented by the British Olympic Association (BOA), competed as the host nation of the 1908 Summer Olympics in London. The British Olympic Association was the National Olympic Committee responsible for organizing the United Kingdom's representation. At the time British athletes competed under the team name "United Kingdom". The British team comprised 676 competitors. A number of Irish athletes boycotted the games in protest at British refusals to grant Irish Home Rule. During the opening ceremony, American athletes did not dip their flag to the British royalty in support of the Irish