1984 Summer Olympics opening ceremony Antwerp flag was then present to Los Angeles Mayor Tom Bradley as Bradley was not present at the closing ceremonies of the 1980 Moscow games. Speeches are made by LAOOC President Peter Ueberroth and IOC president Juan Antonio Samaranch. The first time a sitting US president officially opened the games in person. President Ronald Reagan declared the competition officially open. The Olympic Flag entered the stadium. The Olympic Hymn is played with no words. Homing Pigeons were released. The same cauldron was used as in the 1932 Summer Games. The orchestra played "The Olympian" composed and conducted by Philip Glass.
Venues of the 2008 Summer Olympics Venues of the 2008 Summer Olympics For the 2008 Summer Olympics, a total of thirty-seven venues were used, thirty-one in Beijing, and six outside Beijing. The 2008 Summer Olympic Games were held in Beijing, China from 8 to 24 August 2008. A total of 11,028 athletes from 204 NOCs (countries) participated in 302 events in 28 sports held in 37 competition venues. Events took place at eleven pre-existing venues, twelve new venues constructed for the Olympics, and eight temporary venues that were removed following the games. In addition, six venues outside Beijing hosted events, two of which were newly built