The Eternal Flame: A History of Olympic Opening Ceremonies

The traditionalists weren’t happy when the organizers of the Paris Olympics announced they would be staging their opening ceremony on the River Seine. It will be the first time in the history of the modern Olympics that a stadium won’t be used for the inauguration. After 128 years, many view the various elements of the opening ceremony as noble invocations of the ancient Games that started nearly three millennia ago. Yet, as it happens, there are very few vestiges of Ancient Greece in the modern Olympics. Today’s International Olympic Committee doesn’t slaughter a hundred oxen in tribute to Zeus; modern athletes don’t compete naked; and there are no awards given to poets or lyre virtuosos. Most of the traditions of today’s Olympics were invented gradually over the last century—from podia and medals to the Parade of Nations; from the symbolic release of doves to the Olympic flame.

Indeed, the earliest Olympics of the 20th century did not even stage opening ceremonies: Paris 1900 and St Louis 1904 were slightly chaotic adjuncts to the touring World Exhibition, then a much bigger deal than the Olympics. It wasn’t until London 1908 that we had the first Parade of Nations; the Olympic flag was only introduced in Antwerp 1920, while the Olympic torch, a symbol of continuity between Games, first appeared at Amsterdam 1928, where a flame was lit at the top of a newly built, 150-foot-tall (46-meter) tower in the Olympic Stadium, indicating for miles around that the games were taking place.

If the tenth games, which took place in Los Angeles in 1932, were seen as the birth of razzle-dazzle in the event’s curtain raiser, it was the 11th instalment, in Berlin 1936, that saw the development of the Olympic opening ceremony as we recognize it today—an orchestrated spectacle, designed for film cameras, that featured the inaugural torch relay.

After World War II, London 1948 maintained and further developed these traditions. The torch relay was solemnly kindled in front of a huge hoarding bearing the Baron de Coubertin quotation: “The important thing in the Olympic Games is not winning but taking part. The essential thing in life is not conquering but fighting well.” By this time, a pattern had emerged for the opening ceremony: a speech promoting peace and fraternity from the chairman of the IOC; the lighting of the Olympic flame; the release of doves; the Parade of Nations; an anthem; some artistic demonstrations to sum up the host nation. And symbolism started to become an important element too. At Tokyo 1964, the flame was ignited by 19-year-old Yoshinori Sakai, who had been born in Hiroshima on the very day of the atomic bombing.

The opening ceremony for Moscow 1980 saw an epic human pyramid in the center of the field, while thousands of participants on the stadium’s eastern stand created a mosaic sequence using myriad painted panels. Los Angeles 1984 was the first Olympics to use no public money at all and was entirely funded by advertising revenue, but still managed to ramp up the Hollywood razzmatazz. Stunt pilot Bill Suitor flew into the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum on a self-designed jet pack; 84 pianists played George Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue; Etta James sang When the Saints Go Marching In; the U.S. Army Band marched in to form the Olympic rings.

Each successive opening ceremony from there on in seemed to amplify both cost and spectacle. Seoul 1988 featured a spectacular day of taekwondo demonstrations and skydivers descending into the stadium to form the Olympic rings. Barcelona 1992 staged a parade of mammoth, cartoonish Catalan puppets, a Paralympic archer lighting the Olympic torch with a flaming arrow and a video projection of the late Freddie Mercury performing Barcelona, an anthem created for the games with the Catalan soprano Montserrat Caballé. Atlanta 1996 offered a stunning rendition of Georgia on My Mind by Gladys Knight and the moving sight of the one-time Olympian Muhammad Ali—by this stage visibly afflicted by Parkinson’s disease—lighting the Olympic cauldron.

Sydney 2000 was defined by some perfect, made-for broadcast images such as 120 galloping horses forming the Olympic rings and a digital version of the Great Barrier Reef on the floor of Stadium Australia, while indigenous Australian culture was celebrated as national hero Cathy Freeman, who later won gold in the 400 meters, lit the Olympic torch. The 2004 ceremony in Athens featured a luminous stadium floor, advanced lighting technology and memorable performances from singer Bjork and DJ Tiësto.

This cultural arms race culminated in the awe-inspiring spectacle of Beijing 2008. Zhang Yimou’s show involved 14,000 people, cost around US$300 million and featured a series of memorable stunts: former Olympian Li Ning climbed the walls of the Bird’s Nest stadium to light the Olympic flame; 2,008 drummers pounded on illuminated displays to create a meticulous digital mosaic; acrobats tumbled from a planet suspended 60 feet (18 meters) above the arena.

Four years later, the organizers of London 2012 employed the services of Oscar-winning film maker Danny Boyle in what became a celebration of British eccentricity: James Bond appeared to parachute into the stadium with Her Majesty The Queen; comic character Mr. Bean performed the Chariots of Fire theme;  film character Mary Poppins, punk band The Sex Pistols and double-decker buses were all present and correct.

Like London, Rio 2016 was helmed by an award-winning movie-maker, City of God director Fernando Meirelles, who delivered a show that was rich in home-grown culture—parkour, samba, bossa nova, funk carioca, the Rio carnival—and featured a host of major Brazilian stars, while also addressing the changing face of the country’s rainforests and the challenges caused by climate change.

After the Covid-afflicted Tokyo 2020, which took place behind closed doors in 2021, Paris now has the challenge of reviving the splendor of past opening ceremonies on July 26th 2024. The idea to stage their ceremony on the River Seine is brilliant and bold. With each national delegation allocated separate boats, over 10,000 athletes will sail for 3.7 miles (six kms) east to west through the capital, from the Pont d’Austerlitz to Trocadéro, where the final elements of the show will take place. Thousands of spectators will line the route, many with free tickets, while others will watch on 80 digital screens. The organizers claim it will be the largest opening ceremony in the history of the games.