The opening ceremony of the 1996 Summer Olympics took place in the evening on Friday, July 19 at the Centennial Olympic Stadium, Atlanta, United States. 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. The Games were officially opened by President of the United States of America Bill Clinton.
The Olympic cauldron was lit by former gold medalist and boxing champion Muhammad Ali. The ceremony featured film composer John Williams, French Canadian singer Celine Dion and American singer Gladys Knight. The ceremony attendance was 85,600.
The ceremony was produced and directed by Don Mischer. It was watched by an estimated 3.5billion viewers worldwide, being the most watched TV event until 2022, when it was dethroned by the state funeral of Queen Elizabeth II.
Dignitaries
The ceremony was attended by many world leaders.
Dignitaries from International organizations
United Nations – Secretary-General Boutros Boutros-Ghali
European Union – Vice President Frans Andriessen
Organization of American States – Secretary General Cesar Gaviria
International Olympic Committee –
President Juan Antonio Samaranch and wife María Teresa Salisachs Rowe
Members of the International Olympic Committee
Host nation Dignitaries
United States –
President Bill Clinton
First Lady Hillary Clinton
President & CEO of ACOG Billy Payne and wife Martha Payne
Former President Jimmy Carter
Former First Lady Rosalynn Carter
Civil Rights Leader Coretta Scott King
actor Bruce Willis and actresses Demi Moore and Jane Fonda and husband Ted Turner Speaker Newt Gingrich Real Estate Tycoon Donald Trump and wife actress Marla Maples Trump
Foreign dignitaries
Canada – Prime Minister Jean Chretien
Mexico – President Ernesto Zedillo
Brazil – President Fernando Henrique Cardoso
Argentina – President Carlos Menem
Bolivia – President Gonzalo Sanchez de Lozada
France – President Jacques Chirac
Belgium – Crown Prince Philippe (representing the King of Belgium) Portugal – President Jorge Sampaio Namibia – Prime Minister Hage Geingob Russia – Prime Minister Viktor Chernomyrdin United Kingdom – Princess Anne (representing the Queen of the United Kingdom) Deputy Prime Minister Michael Heseltine Italy – Prime Minister Massimo D’Alema Lithuania – President Algirdas Brazauskas Netherlands – Prime Minister Wim Kok Greece – President Konstantinos Stephanopoulos Germany – Chancellor Helmut Kohl Two time Olympic Gold Medalist Katarina Witt Turkey – Prime Minister Necmettin Erbakan South Africa – Deputy President Thabo Mbeki and Zanele Dlamini Mbeki Rwanda – President Paul Kagame Lebanon – Prime Minister Rafic Hariri Australia – Prime Minister Paul Keating Philippines – First Lady Amelita Ramos Bosnia and Herzegovina – Prime Minister Hasan Muratović Poland – President Aleksander Kwaśniewski Finland – President Martti Ahtisaari Belarus – President Aleksander Lukashenko Monaco – Prince Rainier III Luxembourg – Grand Duke Jean Norway – Crown Prince Haakon (representing the King of Norway) Denmark – Prime Minister Poul Nyrup Rasmussen San Marino – Captains Regent Pietro Bugli and Pier Paolo Gasperoni Sweden – King Carl XVI Gustaf Spain – Crown Prince Felipe and Queen Sofia (representing the King of Spain) Dominica – Prime Minister Edison James US Virgin Islands – Governor Roy Schneider Yugoslavia – President Zoran Lilić Saint Kitts and Nevis – Prime Minister Denzil Douglas Israel – Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu
Proceedings
Countdown
The ceremony began with a countdown at the screen coming from 22 to 1. Starting at 22, footage from previous games appeared with Atlanta at the end complete with an image of fireworks, with a few seconds fireworks display along with numbers between 22 and 1 being from previous games until 0 from the current games. 22 - 1896 Athens 21 - 1900 Paris 20 - 1904 St. Louis 19 - 1908 London 18 - 1912 Stockholm 17 - 1920 Antwerp 16 - 1924 Paris 15 - 1928 Amsterdam 14 - 1932 Los Angeles 13 - 1936 Berlin 12 - 1948 London 11 - 1952 Helsinki 10 - 1956 Melbourne (Ten) 9 - 1960 Rome (Nine) 8 - 1964 Tokyo (Eight) 7 - 1968 Mexico City (Seven) 6 - 1972 Munich (Six) 5 - 1976 Montreal (Five) 4 - 1980 Moscow (Four) 3 - 1984 Los Angeles (Three) 2 - 1988 Seoul (Two) 1 - 1992 Barcelona (One) 0 - 1996 Atlanta