1992 Summer Olympics opening ceremony
Date | 25 July 1992 |
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Time | 20:00 - 23:08 CEST (UTC+2) |
Location | Estadi Olímpic Lluís Companys, Barcelona, Spain |
Coordinates | 41°21′53.14″N 2°9′20.37″E / 41.3647611°N 2.1556583°E |
Filmed by | RTVE and COOB |
Footage | The opening ceremony on YouTube |
Part of a series on |
1992 Summer Olympics |
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The opening ceremony of the 1992 Summer Olympics took place in the evening on Saturday 25 July 1992 in the Estadi Olímpic Lluís Companys, Barcelona, Spain. As mandated by the Olympic Charter, the proceedings combined the formal and ceremonial opening of this international sporting event, including welcoming speeches, hoisting of the flags and the parade of athletes, with an artistic spectacle to showcase the host nation's culture and history.
Greek mezzo-soprano, Agnes Baltsa, sang "Romiossini" as the Olympic flag was taken around the stadium. Alfredo Kraus later sang the Olympic Hymn in both Catalan and Spanish as the flag was hoisted. The Olympic flame cauldron was lit by a flaming arrow, shot by Paralympic archer Antonio Rebollo. The arrow had been lit by the flame of the Olympic Torch. Rebollo overshot the cauldron[1] as this was the original design of the lighting scheme.[2][3]
There were two main musical themes for the 1992 Games. One was "Barcelona", composed five years earlier by Freddie Mercury and sung as a duet with Montserrat Caballé. Due to Mercury's death eight months earlier, the duo was unable to perform the song during the opening ceremony. A recording of the song instead played over a travelogue of the city at the start of the opening ceremony.[4]
Parade of nations
Brunei participated in the Opening Ceremony, but its delegation consisted of only one official. This also occurred in the 1988 Games[5][6] Afghanistan didn't send their athletes to compete, but the country took part in the Parade of Nations.[7] Liberia[8] and Somalia[9] also participated in the Opening Ceremony, but its accredited athletes (five and two, respectively) did not enter to compete.[5]
Anthems
Officials and dignitaries
Dignitaries from more than 70 countries attended the ceremony, included at least 29 presidents and many other attendees. Among the guests were :
- Boutros Boutros-Ghali, Secretary General of the United Nations
- Jacques Delors, President of the European Commission
- Ivan Korotchenya, Executive Secretary of CIS
- Manfred Woerner, Secretary General of NATO
- Juan Antonio Samaranch, President of the International Olympic Committee
- Juan Carlos I, King of Spain, Queen Sofia, Infanta Cristina, Prime Minister Felipe González, COOB President Pasqual Maragall and wife Diana Garrigosa
- Maha Vajiralongkorn, Crown Prince of Thailand (Later King Rama X, King of Thailand)
- Hans Brunhart, Prime Minister of Liechtenstein
- Mahathir Mohamad, Prime Minister of Malaysia
- Ruud Lubbers, Prime Minister of the Netherlands
- Rainier III, Sovereign Prince of Monaco
- Jean, Grand Duke of Luxembourg and Princess Joséphine Charlotte, Grand Duchess consort of Luxembourg
- Philippe, Prince of Belgium and Prime Minister Jean-Luc Dehaene
- Pietro Paroli, Captain Regent of San Marino
- Carl XVI Gustaf, King of Sweden and Queen Silvia
- Pascal Couchepin, Vice President of Switzerland
- Òscar Ribas Reig, Prime Minister of Andorra
- Cesar Gaviria, President of Colombia
- Rafael Ángel Calderón Fournier, President of Costa Rica and First Lady Gloria Bejarano Almada
- Rafael Leonardo Callejas Romero, President of Honduras
- Jorge Serrano Elías, President of Guatemala
- Violeta Chamorro, President of Nicaragua
- Fidel Castro, President of Cuba
- Jaime Paz Zamora, President of Bolivia
- Alfredo Cristiani, President of El Salvador
- George Cadle Price, Prime Minister of Belize
- Luis Alberto Lacalle, President of Uruguay
- Andres Rodriguez, President of Paraguay
- Fernando Collor de Mello, President of Brazil
- Carlos Menem, President of Argentina
- Carlos Andres Perez, President of Venezuela
- Patricio Aylwin, President of Chile
- Rodrigo Borja Cevallos, President of Ecuador
- Guillermo Endara, President of Panama
- Bob Hawke, Prime Minister of Australia
- Don McKinnon, Foreign Minister of New Zealand
- Robert Mugabe, President of Zimbabwe
- Jose Eduardo dos Santos, President of Angola
- Paul Kagame, President of Rwanda
- Ronald Venetiaan, President of Suriname
- Rafic Hariri, Prime Minister of Lebanon
- Hage Geingob, Prime Minister of Namibia
- Kiichi Miyazawa, Prime Minister of Japan and Crown Prince Naruhito
- Roh Tae-woo, President of South Korea
- Yasser Arafat, President of Palestine
- Li Peng, Premier of the People's Republic of China
- Shimon Peres, Foreign Minister of Israel
- Amelita Ramos, First Lady of the Philippines
- John Major, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and wife Norma Major
- Mary Robinson, President of Ireland
- Thomas Klestil, Vice President of Austria
- Poul Schlueter, Prime Minister of Denmark
- Ivars Godmanis, Prime Minister of Latvia
- Gediminas Vagnorius, Prime Minister of Lithuania
- Francois Mitterrand, President of France
- Konstantinos Karamanlis, President of Greece
- Suleyman Demirel, President of Turkey
- Mario Soares, President of Portugal
- Arnold Ruutel, President of Estonia
- Zhelyu Zhelev, President of Bulgaria
- Árpád Göncz, President of Hungary
- Vigdis Finnbogadottir, President of Iceland
- Richard von Weizsäcker, President of Germany
- Boris Yeltsin, President of Russia
- Stanislav Shushkevich, President of Belarus
- Leonid Kuchma, President of Ukraine
- Lech Walesa, President of Poland
- Francesco Cossiga, President of Italy
- Mauno Koivisto, President of Finland
- Ion Iliescu, President of Romania
- Vaclav Havel, President of Czechoslovakia
- Zoran Lilic, President of FR Yugoslavia
- Alija Izetbegovic, President of Bosnia and Herzegovina
- Haakon, Crown Prince of Norway
- Dan Quayle, Vice President of the United States and wife Marilyn Quayle
- Brian Mulroney, Prime Minister of Canada
- Carlos Salinas de Gortari, President of Mexico
- César Paredes Canto, Vice President of Peru
- Janez Drnovšek, Prime Minister of Slovenia
- Marc Bazin, Prime Minister of Haiti
- Edison James, Prime Minister of Dominica
- Roy Schneider, Governor of the Virgin Islands
- Nelson Mandela, future President of South Africa
- Mikhail Gorbachev, former President of the Soviet Union
References
- ^ Digital, La Vanguardia. "Edición del lunes, 27 julio 1992, página 36 - Hemeroteca - Lavanguardia.es".
- ^ "Ceremonial hall of shame". BBC News. 2000-09-15. Retrieved 2010-03-27.
- ^ Official Report of the 1992 Summer Olympics, Vol. 4 (LA84Foundation.org). Note p. 70 (confirming arrow lit the gas above the cauldron).
- ^ "Barcelona 92: inicio de la ceremonia". YouTube. Retrieved 2011-03-23.
- ^ a b 1992 Olympics Official Report. Part IV (PDF). Retrieved October 24, 2012.
List of participants by NOC's and sport.
{{cite book}}
: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ^ Barcelona 1992 Opening Ceremony Parade of Nations 2/8 on YouTube
- ^ Barcelona 1992 Opening Ceremony Parade of Nations 1/8 on YouTube
- ^ Barcelona 1992 Opening Ceremony Parade of Nations 4/8 on YouTube
- ^ Barcelona 1992 Opening Ceremony Parade of Nations 6/8 on YouTube