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US SAILING's Olympic Director, Jonathan Harley, Shares
His Thoughts on This Year's Opening Cerimonies
Athens Greece (August 13, 2004) –  –
The schedule for the day of Opening Ceremonies kicked off at
2:30 p.m. when USOC had a bus pick up any U.S. sailing athletes
in Glyfada, where most of our delegation is staying. Everyone
had to be in the Athlete’s Village dressed and ready to go by
4:00 p.m. when the village closed. USA Team busses departed
for the stadium at 6:09 p.m. Once at the stadium the teams entered
a “holding area” where they then wait to march in – for the
athletes from the USA until about 9:45 p.m. when they marched
in as the 57th country of 202 nations. Immediately
after the “parade of nations” athletes could choose to depart,
especially if they were to compete the next day. The whole ceremony
would not end until well after midnight, making it a long 10-hour
day. In fact, I heard a rumor that the Australian Olympic
Committee had “forbidden” any athlete who was to compete on
Saturday or Sunday to march in the Opening Ceremony.
 I
had planned to watch Opening Ceremonies with my family on TV
to enjoy a much needed day off. My wife and daughter have
finally joined me after staying home the five previous Olympic
Regattas. (They both have volunteer jobs in the Sailing
Media Center.) However, at the 11th hour we
received a phone call that one of the other NGBs had extra tickets
available for 100 euros each, so off we went. It was well
worth the last minute scramble, racing in a taxi to the area
of the stadium where many streets had been closed since early
afternoon. In fact, all of Athens was in “holiday mode”
with stores and businesses shut down for the day, leaving Athens
eerily empty of both drivers and also pedestrians.
Some ticket holders had been advised to arrive three hours prior
to the ceremony, which was scheduled to begin at 8:30 p.m.
We arrived in our seats, three rows from the top, at 7:30 p.m.
The parade of athletes began at about 9:30 and took over two
hours for the 202 countries to process in. Several times
during the ceremonies “the wave” would go through the audience.
Like a “seventh inning stretch,” it helped to shake out the
kinks, catch the barely noticeable breeze, and keep awake!
Sailing was very well represented in the parade of athletes,
as the flag bearers from six countries (BRA, AUS, ARG, BER,
AUT, and ITA) were well-known sailors. Greek native Nikos
Kaklamanakis, the Windsurfing Gold Medallist from Savannah (’96),
ignited the torch to a thunderous roar at the culmination of
the evening -- the lighting of the Olympic flame that had traveled
“home” for the return of the Games to their modern birthplace.
These ceremonies were very different than any previous Opening
Ceremonies that I have attended. The performances were
imaginative, and included audience participation, and there
was a display of ancient Greek culture and history. But
the focus of the evening, as it should be, was on the athletes.
This material is reprinted with the permission of US
SAILING.
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