Opening Ceremony

The night of the opening ceremony is always special at any Olympics and this particular opening ceremony was nothing short of spectacular.

As officials we do not participate in the opening ceremony because we are there working for the international federation rather than representing our country in any form.  We are there as officials and are therefore impartial with no vested interest in any country. So whilst we do not get to walk out with our respective nations as they are announced, it does give us a nice opportunity to sit in the crowd and absorb the atmosphere.  It is incredible to see the pride and hope displayed by the many athletes participating in the up-coming Olympics and to know that we will be a part of what they will make happen over the next few weeks.

We don’t automatically get tickets for the opening ceremony and so I feel lucky that for all three Olympics I have been to as an official the international federation has managed to get us tickets so we can attend and be a part of the event.

Travelling to the ceremony

We all met in our hotel lobby and walked to the opening ceremony as a group along with the other technical officials staying in our hotel.  There are several different international federations staying in our hotel – I noticed a few technical officials for figure skating and other sports.  It was a nice opportunity to get together and celebrate being part of the games with sports that otherwise we wouldn’t see or get to talk to anyone from.

As we walked through the Olympic Park it was the first time we had seen it open to the general public and it was clear that the Russian people were very proud to be hosting the Olympics as they turned up in their thousands to experience the opening ceremony.  It was the first time the souvenir shop was open and the line-up stretched for over 100 metres and was 5 or 6 people wide.  Hasten to add we decided not to queue up for any souvenirs through fear of missing the ceremony.

Arriving at the stadium

The Opening Ceremony was being held in a 40,000 seater stadium which has been built on the Olympic park for the sole purpose of the opening and closing ceremonies.  After the Olympics it is planned to host the football world cup. 

Stone steps leading up to the stadium

It is a pretty magnificent building, like all others on the park, and as we walked up to it, again, it was easy to feel very small in the crowd of people.  Our tickets were in the Olympic Family section which meant walking up a huge set of stone steps on the outer ring of the stadium.  The excitement over-took many of us as we raced each other to the top whilst singing the Rocky theme tune to each other.  We laughed with each other as people starred at us.  It was clear we were all having a good time; either that or they thought we were slightly crazy – we are female referees after all!

Sochi blanket and light up medal

We entered the stadium through the Olympic family lounge.  We walked through the lounge to come out onto the concourse inside the stadium which was breath-taking and quickly found our seats.  On them was a Sochi blanket (which given how cold it was came in very handy later on), and a bag with a plastic medal in.  The medal was a prop for us to wear which had a light inside it.  The light was controlled within the stadium and so the idea was for each of us to wear the medal and become a part of the light show around the stadium.   

View from stadium concourse

Most opening ceremonies have some form of prop for audience participation –whether it be a torch which needs to be held up at a certain point or a coloured poncho to give a pattern around the stadium crowd.  We all thought having a medal which changed colours based on where your seat was in the stadium was pretty cool.

The show

Olympic rings in lights

I’ve been lucky enough to see several Olympic opening ceremonies live.  Obviously Torino and Vancouver as an official and in 2012 I saw the London Olympics opening ceremony live too as a volunteer.  The Sochi 2014 opening ceremony did not disappoint with its spectacular props and cleverly designed light shows. 

Giant mascots

Most of the time being at the ceremony is more about being part of the event than it is about seeing what the show looks like.  This is because a lot of the props and especially the demonstrations made with light and/or humans organised in certain patterns are better viewed from above by TV cameras than they are from the stands.  Sometimes from the crowd it is difficult to work out what is happening on stage as the dancers run around organising themselves in different formations when on TV it looks incredible as hundreds of humans are moving around to form a large mosaic picture for the cameras.

Giant galloping horses in lights

However from the small child who was hoisted high into the stadium on a string, to the giant 40 metres tall mascots there was plenty for the live audience to experience and enjoy.  I particularly enjoyed the ballet which surprised me as I am not really a big fan normally.  However it is pretty magical to see it performed by so many people on such a big stage and with a pretty awesome light show. 

Giant wire structures of hockey players in lights

There was a fantastic use of light throughout the ceremony from the lighted flowers which opened to form the Olympic rings, to giant galloping horses and giant wire structures of the different sports in the winter Olympics.  It was difficult not to be overwhelmed by how much effort and thought had gone into creating the ceremony.

Messages from the ceremony

Celebration of Russia

As with all opening ceremonies there is always an underlying message which the host country are trying to put across at the same time as celebrate what they are about as a nation.  In London I remember feeling a great sense of national pride as the many strange and wonderful things that make us British were celebrated on the stage.  This was very much replicated in Sochi with Russia celebrating holding the Olympics for the first time as the new Russia.  The pride and patriotism was clear from the way they sang along to their national anthem which left all of us with a lump in our throat.  This country had dared to host an Olympic games on a site which previously had no venues and no history of winter sport.  In 7 years they have managed to build an incredible Olympic park and were hosting the games in style.  The sense of achievement and pride from the Russian people was overwhelming.

The motto for the games is ‘Hot, Cool, Yours’ and it was described to us by the President of the Sochi Organising Committee.  It is ‘hot’ not just because of the warm temperatures of Sochi but because of the love in the hearts of the Russian people who are welcoming the world to Sochi with warmth.  It is ‘cool’ because of the athletes who will be competing.  And it is ‘yours’ because they want us all to share and make the games our games.

This for me is what the Olympics are about and it is difficult not to get caught up in the emotion of this at an opening ceremony.  The sheer fact that everyone there is united by Olympic sport and it doesn’t matter where they come from, what political view-point they have or what situation their country may be in.  Olympic sport brings the world together on a level playing field where for just a moment everything outside of sport doesn’t matter.  Given all the problems that exist in the world the very fact that the Olympics happens and has the ability to bring people together in this way is remarkable.

The real spectacle

Whilst media and public scrutiny will always focus on the incredible props, the light shows, the fireworks and all the other crazy and wonderful parts of the opening ceremony, for me I think the real spectacle is the athletes. 

It is breath-taking to sit there and watch as each country is announced and all the athletes representing them walk out and around the stadium.  The sheer volume of people who have had the determination and will to train hard and focus enough to become Olympic athletes is just awesome.  Each and every one of those athletes had trained hard for this moment and they deserved the chance to enjoy it.

In our small group of officials we have individuals from a number of different countries: GB (obviously), Canada, USA, Germany, Norway, Switzerland, Slovakia, Czech Republic, France and Sweden.  So tight is our group that as each of the countries where one of us is from was announced and the athletes walked out, the whole group got up to cheer and shout.  It is a lovely feeling to be surrounded by friends who appreciate what it means to feel supported - so much that they will cheer for your country when it is announced even when it is not their own.  For one of the girls when her country was announced she stood up and whilst the rest of us cheered she had tears rolling down her face.  It was incredible to sit with her whilst she displayed her full emotion of what it meant to her to be at the Olympics.  The best part of any opening ceremony is sitting and watching the athletes come out because this is what the games are about!

Lighting the flame

My first glimpse of the Olympic flame

As is the purpose of the opening ceremony, the lighting of the Olympic flame that is to burn throughout the Olympics was performed in spectacular style.  The Olympic flame is outside of the stadium and in the middle of the Olympic park so as the torch bearers ran outside the images were projected on a big screen for the crowd to watch.  As the flame was lit there was an almighty roar from the crowd which was followed by thousands of fireworks being fired from the roof of the stadium.

As we filed out of the stadium we were treated to a breathtaking firework display before we all got our first glimpse of the flame in all its glory in the middle of the Olympic park for everyone to see.

An incredible moment and for me the games has really begun now!