1994 Winter Olympics opening ceremony

1994 Winter Olympics opening ceremony
Date	12 February 1994 (1994-02-12)
Location	Lysgårdsbakken, Lillehammer, Norway
Coordinates	61°07′32″N 10°29′16″E / 61.1256°N 10.4879°E / 61.1256; 10.4879
Filmed by	1994 Olympic Radio and Television Organisation (NRK ORTO '94)

1994 Winter Olympics

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The opening ceremony of the 1994 Winter Olympics took place on 12 February 1994 at Lysgårdsbakken in Lillehammer, Norway.

Ceremony

Artistic content was made to present a range of Norwegian culture, included Sami joik, Telemark skiing, fiddlers and folk dancing,^[1] simulations of traditional weddings and their processions, and vetter from Norse mythology.^[2] The ceremony was hosted by an actress Liv Ullmann and explorer and sailor Thor Heyerdahl, 79 years old at the time.^[3] After speeches by LOOC President Gerhard Heiberg and IOC president Juan Antonio Samaranch, the games were officially declared opened by King Harald V.^[4] The Olympic Flame was to be carried by a skier down the ski jump before lighting the cauldron. Originally this task had rested upon Ole Gunnar Fidjestøl, but after he was injured in a practice jump, his back-up Stein Gruben [no] received the honour. The cauldron was lit by Crown Prince Haakon Magnus. The Olympic oaths were issued by Vegard Ulvang for the athletes and Kari Kåring for the officials.^[5] Finnish Sami poet Nils-Aslak Valkeapää performed at the opening ceremony.

On the day of the opening ceremonies, art thieves stole Edvard Munch's masterpiece The Scream from the National Museum in Oslo.

^ LOOC (III): 154
^ LOOC (III): 158
^ and, Jere Longman. "WINTER OLYMPICS; Games Open Amid Pomp, Snow and Quiet Culture". The New York Times.
^ LOOC (III): 155
^ LOOC (III): 156

Hove-Ødegård, Arne; Celius, Sten; Brun, Ivar Ole (2004). "An Olympic Fairy Tale". Lillehammer Municipality. Archived from the original on 12 December 2010. Retrieved 11 December 2010.
Lillehammer Olympic Organizing Committee. "1994 Winter Olympics Report, volume I" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on 2 December 2010. Retrieved 10 December 2010.
Lillehammer Olympic Organizing Committee. "1994 Winter Olympics Report, volume II" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on 2 December 2010. Retrieved 10 December 2010.
Lillehammer Olympic Organizing Committee. "1994 Winter Olympics Report, volume III" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2 December 2010. Retrieved 10 December 2010.
Lillehammer Olympic Organizing Committee. "1994 Winter Olympics Report, volume IV" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2 December 2010. Retrieved 10 December 2010.

Opening ceremonies

Summer	1896 1900 1904 1908 1912 1920 1924 1928 1932 1936 1948 1952 1956 1960 1964 1968 1972 1976 1980 1984 1988 1992 1996 2000 2004 2008 2012 2016 2020 2024 2028 2032
Winter	1924 1928 1932 1936 1948 1952 1956 1960 1964 1968 1972 1976 1980 1984 1988 1992 1994 1998 2002 2006 2010 2014 2018 2022 2026 2030
Flag bearers by country People who have opened the Games Olympic Oath Torch relays Torchbearers who have lit the Olympic cauldron

Closing ceremonies

Summer	1896 1900 1904 1908 1912 1920 1924 1928 1932 1936 1948 1952 1956 1960 1964 1968 1972 1976 1980 1984 1988 1992 1996 2000 2004 2008 2012 2016 2020 2024 2028 2032
Winter	1924 1928 1932 1936 1948 1952 1956 1960 1964 1968 1972 1976 1980 1984 1988 1992 1994 1998 2002 2006 2010 2014 2018 2022 2026 2030
People who have kept the Olympic flag