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
2014 Winter Paralympics opening ceremony Alexander Petrov. Tchaikovsky's "Sugar Plum Fairy" and an homage to ice fishing were among the performances. Many of the show's 2500 performers were disabled, including singer Yuliya Samoylova who led the choir in a performance of "Together". During the March of Nations, athletes entered from a central ramp, just as in the opening ceremony of the 2014 Winter Olympics. Soviet-era rock music played as the nations alphabetically (in the Russian alphabet) paraded through a "forest" of 204 light poles. Ukraine was represented by a single athlete carrying their flag to represent the 23-person team in an apparent protest to the