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Summer Olympic Games Open in
Beijing |
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Celebrating its first-time role as Olympic host with a stunning
display and proud to be presenting the summer games Friday night
in Beijing, China welcomed hundreds of world leaders to an
opening ceremony that was watched by 91,000 people at the
National Stadium and an audience of 4 billion worldwide. It is
the largest and costliest extravaganza in all Olympic history.
The crowd counted down the final seconds before the opening show
began with 2,008 drummers? pounding out rhythms with their hands
followed by acrobats on wires as rockets shot up into the sky
from the rim of the “Bird’s Nest” stadium.
A record number of 204 country delegations paraded their
athletes through the stadium. The American flag was carried by
1500-meter runner Lopez Loming, one of the “lost boys of the
Sudan,” who eventually became a U.S. citizen.
President Bush and Russian Prime Minster Vladimir Putin were
among the notable guests watching the opening ceremony.
The story that was represented in the opening ceremony sought to
reflect China’s 5,000-year history and featured depictions of
everything from opera to the Great Wall to astronauts and also
included traditional Chinese art and music. 15,000 people were
in the cast, all directed by Zhang Yimou, an internationally
known movie director.
For all the Chinese people this is truly a day of glory. IOC
President Jacques Rogge said, “This is also a chance for the
rest of the world to discover what China is." |
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