Tomkins leads Australians as Games declared open
Saturday, August 9, 2008 - 2:15 AM

Australia's five-time Olympian James Tomkins led the Australian delegation into Beijing's Bird's Nest stadium before the 2008 Beijing Games were offically declared open after a spectacular opening ceremony this morning (Australian time).

"For a long time, China has dreamed of opening its doors and inviting the world's athletes to Beijing for the Olympic Games," said Jacques Rogge, the president of the International Olympic Committee (IOC).

"Tonight that dream comes true. Congratulations, Beijing."

Chinese gymnastics champion and business supremo Li Ning lit the cauldron at the end of the ceremony, after he was lifted high off the ground by cables and swung around the stadium.

A final fireworks display followed the lighting of the cauldron, with explosions on the stadium and all around the city.

In an innovation for the Beijing Games, veteran rower Tomkins was followed by a group of five-time Olympians and the athletes followed according to how many Games they had attended.

A group of debutants brought up the rear for the Australian team.

There was widespread concern that rain would dampen the spirits of the 91,000-strong crowd at the opening ceremony but the weather stayed kind apart from the ever-present smog, which was reportedly threatening to delay today's men's cycling road race.

News Limited websites reported that Olympic organisers informed broadcasters around the world that there was a high chance of the event being delayed some hours or even until Sunday.

Cauldron-lighter Li is a national hero in China after winning three gold medals, two silver and one bronze at the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics. He is also the founder of a popular sportswear company bearing his name.

The identity of the person who lights the cauldron is traditionally kept secret until the final moments of the ceremony, and Chinese authorities went to extraordinary lengths to keep details from the public.

But the website for media at the Olympics on this occasion published the details shortly after the nearly three-and-a-half hour ceremony began.

Chinese female table tennis star Zhang Yining and gymnastics referee Huang Liping took the Olympic oaths.

The two took the oaths on behalf of the more than 10,000 athletes who will be competing in the Games, Xinhua reported.

Zhang won two gold medals at the 2004 Athens Games and Huang is a former world champion gymnast, who will act as a referee in Beijing, the report said.

Dazzling ceremony


An army of 2,008 drummers pounded out the countdown to the Games, which mark among other things China's emergence from impoverished isolation to economic might.

Around 80 world leaders, including Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd and US President George W Bush, joined 91,000 excited spectators in the majestic Bird's Nest stadium for the opening show. The global television audience was expected to exceed one billion viewers.

Some 14,000 performers and 29,000 firework shells were primed for the show, with film director Zhang Yimou, whose work was once banned in China, offering up a sweeping, cinematic vision of 5,000 years of Chinese history.

According to Olympic tradition Greece kicked off the procession of athletes, with the rest of the nations following according to the Chinese alphabet.

A huge roar accompanied the entrance of the Chinese team into the Bird's Nest, led by basketball superstar Yao Ming.The crowd erupted with thousands of Chinese waving red cloths to welcome their team.

Sudanese refugee Lopez Lomong led the powerful US delegation.

The middle-distance runner was a controversial choice as China has come in for widescale criticism for its support of the Sudanese government in the buildup to the Games.

Iraq's five-strong delegation marched proudly into the stadium, led by rower Hamzah Al-Hilfi.

Iraqi participation at the Games had been in doubt up until the last minute over political interference in the running of the Iraqi National Olympic Committee.

History-making swimmer Natalie du Toit led the South African squad into the National Stadium in Friday's Beijing Olympics opening ceremony.

The Games of the 29th Olympiad run until August 24, with 10,500 athletes from a record 204 nations chasing 302 gold medals in 28 sports.