2004 Summer Olympics opening ceremony the Opening Ceremonies, for example in the last Olympics before that, in Salt Lake City, where banners of the previous 18 Winter Olympics entered Rice-Eccles Stadium at the beginning of the ceremony. This would also be seen in Vancouver during the opening ceremonies of the 2010 Winter Olympics and on the Televised version of the Olympic Opening Ceremony of the London 2012 Olympic Games. The first speech came from Gianna Angelopoulos-Daskalaki, the chief organizer of the Athens 2004 Olympics and the first female chief organizer of an Olympic games. She told the athletes: "Welcome home!" and "Greece is standing before
2002 Winter Olympics opening ceremony were complaints that the Games were being conducted in an overtly patriotic manner. President Bush received some criticism for departing from the Olympic charter by extending the declaration to open the Games, saying “On behalf of a proud, determined and grateful nation” before the traditional formula, “I declare open the Games of Salt Lake City”. In addition, the President opened the Games standing among the US athletes, while previous heads of state opened the Games from an official box. NBC's Bob Costas applauded the move during the network's coverage of the Opening Ceremony. The official box was occupied by the