List of people who have opened the Olympic Games

The Olympic Games are an international multi-sport event featuring both summer and winter sports, held every two years with Summer and Winter Olympic Games alternating. During Olympic Games opening ceremonies, the sitting president of the International Olympic Committee will make a speech before inviting a representative from the host country to officially declare that particular Games open. The current Olympic Charter requires this person to be the head of state of the host country,^[1] although this has not always been the case. This article lists the people who have had the ceremonial duty to declare each Olympic Games open.

Rule 56 of Chapter 5 of the Olympic Charter sets out the exact words that are to be declared by the person opening the Games. If at a Summer Olympic Games, the words to be said are:

I declare open the Games of [name of host city] celebrating the [number of the Olympiad] Olympiad of the modern era.^[1]

When at a Winter Olympic Games, the dignitary opening the Games is to proclaim:

I declare open the [number of the Olympic Winter Games] Olympic Winter Games of [name of host city].^[1]

However, this has not always been followed strictly; at the 2010 Winter Olympics the Governor General of Canada, Michaëlle Jean, used the format of a Summer Games declaration to open the Games by saying "I declare open the Games of Vancouver, celebrating the 21st Winter Olympic Games."^[2]

• In 1976, Elizabeth II, as Queen of Canada, opened the Montreal Olympics (first in French followed by the English) with:

I declare open the Olympic Games of 1976, celebrating the XXI Olympiad of the modern era.

• In 1984, U.S. President Ronald Reagan opened the Los Angeles Summer Olympics with:

Celebrating the XXIII Olympiad of the modern era, I declare open the Olympic Games of Los Angeles.

• In 2002, U.S. President George W. Bush opened the Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, which took place five months after the September 11 attacks, with:

On behalf of a proud, determined and grateful nation..., then the standard opening formula followed.

• In 2008, Hu Jintao, the President of the People's Republic of China, formally announced the opening of the 2008 Summer Olympics by speaking in Mandarin:

On behalf of the 29th Olympiad, I officially declare these Olympic Games of Beijing ... open.

• In 2012, Elizabeth II, as Queen of the United Kingdom, opened the London Summer Olympics with the same fashion in English, making it the second time that she opened the Games.

Dignitaries who have opened the Olympic Games

Year	games	Host city	Officially opened by[note 1]	Office of opener[note 1]	Notes
1896	I Olympiad	Athens, Greece	George I	King of the Hellenes	[3]
1900	II Olympiad	Paris, France	No official opening	No official opening	[4]
1904	III Olympiad	St. Louis, United States	Francis, David R.David R. Francis	President of the Louisiana Purchase Exposition	[5]
1908	IV Olympiad	London, Great Britain	Edward VII	King of the United Kingdom	[6]
1912	V Olympiad	Stockholm, Sweden	Gustav V	King of Sweden	[7]
1920	VII Olympiad	Antwerp, Belgium	Albert I	King of the Belgians	[8]
1924	I Winter	Chamonix, France	Vidal, GastonGaston Vidal	Undersecretary for Physical Education of France	[9]
1924	VIII Olympiad	Paris, France	Doumergue, GastonGaston Doumergue	President of France	[10]
1928	II Winter	St. Moritz, Switzerland	Schulthess, EdmundEdmund Schulthess	President of the Swiss Confederation[note 2]	[11]
1928	IX Olympiad	Amsterdam, Netherlands	HendrikPrince Hendrik	Prince consort of Queen of the Netherlands Wilhelmina	[12]
1932	III Winter	Lake Placid, United States	Roosevelt, Franklin D.Franklin D. Roosevelt	Governor of New York	[13]
1932	X Olympiad	Los Angeles, United States	Curtis, CharlesCharles Curtis	Vice President of the United States	[14]
1936	IV Winter	Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany	Hitler, AdolfAdolf Hitler	Führer of Germany[note 3]	[15]
1936	XI Olympiad	Berlin, Germany	Hitler, AdolfAdolf Hitler	Führer of Germany[note 3]	[16]
1948	V Winter	St. Moritz, Switzerland	Celio, EnricoEnrico Celio	President of the Swiss Confederation[note 2]	[17]
1948	XIV Olympiad	London, Great Britain	George VI	King of the United Kingdom	[18]
1952	VI Winter	Oslo, Norway	RagnhildPrincess Ragnhild	Princess of Norway	[19]
1952	XV Olympiad	Helsinki, Finland	Paasikivi, Juho KustiJuho Kusti Paasikivi	President of Finland	[20]
1956	VII Winter	Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy	Gronchi, GiovanniGiovanni Gronchi	President of Italy	[21]
1956	XVI Olympiad (equestrian)	Stockholm, Sweden	Gustaf VI Adolf	King of Sweden	[22]
1956	XVI Olympiad	Melbourne, Australia	PhilipPrince Philip	Consort of Queen of Australia Elizabeth II	[23]
1960	VIII Winter	Squaw Valley, United States	Nixon, RichardRichard Nixon	Vice President of the United States	[24]
1960	XVII Olympiad	Rome, Italy	Gronchi, GiovanniGiovanni Gronchi	President of Italy	[25]
1964	IX Winter	Innsbruck, Austria	Schärf, AdolfAdolf Schärf	President of Austria	[26]
1964	XVIII Olympiad	Tokyo, Japan	Hirohito	Emperor of Japan	[27]
1968	X Winter	Grenoble, France	de Gaulle, CharlesCharles de Gaulle	President of France	[28]
1968	XIX Olympiad	Mexico City, Mexico	Díaz Ordaz, GustavoGustavo Díaz Ordaz	President of Mexico	[29]
1972	XI Winter	Sapporo, Japan	Hirohito	Emperor of Japan	[30]
1972	XX Olympiad	Munich, West Germany	Heinemann, GustavGustav Heinemann	President of West Germany	[31]
1976	XII Winter	Innsbruck, Austria	Kirchschläger, RudolfRudolf Kirchschläger	President of Austria	[32]
1976	XXI Olympiad	Montreal, Canada	Elizabeth II	Queen of Canada	[33]
1980	XIII Winter	Lake Placid, United States	Mondale, WalterWalter Mondale	Vice President of the United States	[34]
1980	XXII Olympiad	Moscow, Soviet Union	Brezhnev, LeonidLeonid Brezhnev	Chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union[note 4]	[35]
1984	XIV Winter	Sarajevo, Yugoslavia	SpiljakMika Špiljak	President of the Presidency of Yugoslavia	[36]
1984	XXIII Olympiad	Los Angeles, United States	Reagan, RonaldRonald Reagan	President of the United States	[37]
1988	XV Winter	Calgary, Canada	Sauvé, JeanneJeanne Sauvé	Governor General of Canada, representing Queen of Canada Elizabeth II	[38]
1988	XXIV Olympiad	Seoul, Republic of Korea	Roh Tae-woo	President of South Korea	[39]
1992	XVI Winter	Albertville, France	Mitterrand, FrançoisFrançois Mitterrand	President of France	[40]
1992	XXV Olympiad	Barcelona, Spain	Juan Carlos I	King of Spain	[41]
1994	XVII Winter	Lillehammer, Norway	Harald V	King of Norway	[42]
1996	XXVI Olympiad	Atlanta, United States	Clinton, BillBill Clinton	President of the United States	[43]
1998	XVIII Winter	Nagano, Japan	Akihito	Emperor of Japan	[44]
2000	XXVII Olympiad	Sydney, Australia	Deane, WilliamWilliam Deane	Governor-General of Australia, representing Queen of Australia Elizabeth II	[45]
2002	XIX Winter	Salt Lake City, United States	Bush, George W.George W. Bush	President of the United States	[46]
2004	XXVIII Olympiad	Athens, Greece	Stephanopoulos, KonstantinosKonstantinos Stephanopoulos	President of the Hellenic Republic	[47]
2006	XX Winter	Turin, Italy	Ciampi, Carlo AzeglioCarlo Azeglio Ciampi	President of Italy	[48]
2008	XXIX Olympiad	Beijing, China PR	Hu Jintao	President of the People's Republic of China	[49]
2010	XXI Winter	Vancouver, Canada	Jean, MichaëlleMichaëlle Jean	Governor General of Canada, representing Queen of Canada Elizabeth II	[50]
2012	XXX Olympiad	London, Great Britain	Elizabeth II	Queen of the United Kingdom	[51]
2014	XXII Winter	Sochi, Russian Federation	Vladimir Putin	President of the Russian Federation	[52]
2016	XXXI Olympiad	Rio de Janeiro, Brazil	Dilma Rousseff	President of Brazil

Notes:

Dignitaries who have opened the Youth Olympic Games

Year	Games	Host city	Officially opened by	Office of opener	Notes
2010	I Summer	Singapore	S.R. Nathan	President of the Republic of Singapore
2012	I Winter	Innsbruck, Austria	Heinz Fischer	Federal President of Austria
2014	II Summer	Nanjing, China PR	Xi Jinping	President of the People's Republic of China

See also

• List of Olympic Games host cities

References