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, 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.
Opening ceremony
The IOC factsheet on the opening ceremony states: "According to the Olympic Charter protocol, the duty of declaring the Games officially open falls to the head of state of the host country. Those who have performed this task are royalty and presidents, or their representatives, whether it was a vice-president, a member of the royal family, or a governor-general". 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 celebrating the Olympiad of the modern era.When at a Winter Olympic Games, the dignitary opening the Games is to proclaim:
I declare open the Olympic Winter Games of .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 in French and English "I declare open the Games of Vancouver, celebrating the 21st Winter Olympic Games."
In 1960, Giovanni Gronchi, President of the Italian Republic, declares the Summer Olympics in Rome open by speaking in Italian:
In 1964, Emperor Hirohito of Japan, open the Summer Olympics in Tokyo by speaking in Japanese:
In 1968, Mexican president Gustavo Diaz Ordaz declared the opening of the Games of Mexico City in Spanish:
In 1972, German presidet Gustav Heinmann declared the Games of Munich speaking in German:
In 1976, Elizabeth II, as Queen of Canada, opened the Montreal Olympics with:
In 1980, Soviet leader Leonid Brezhnev opened the Moscow Summer Olympics with :
In 1984, U.S. President Ronald Reagan opened the Los Angeles Summer Olympics with:
In 1988, President of the Republic of Korea, Roh Tae-woo opened the Summer Olympics in Seoul by speaking in Korean:
In 1992, King Juan Carlos I of Spain opened the Barcelona Summer Olympics with:
In 1996, U.S. President Bill Clinton opened the Atlanta Summer Olympics with:
In 1998, Emperor Akihito of Japan open the Olympic Winter Games in Nagano by speaking in Japanese:
In 2000, Governor-General of the Commonwealth of Australia Sir William Deane opened the Sydney Summer Olympics with:
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:
In 2004, Konstantinos Stephanopoulos, President of the Hellenic Republic, declares open the 2004 Athens Summer Olympics by speaking in Greek:
In 2006, Carlo Azeglio Ciampi, President of the Italian Republic, declares the 2006 Turin Olympic Winter Games open by speaking in Italian:
In 2008, Hu Jintao, the President of the People's Republic of China, declares the opening of the 2008 Beijing Summer Olympics by speaking in Mandarin:
In 2012, Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, declares the opening of the 2012 London Summer Olympics, following the 60th anniversary of her accession to the throne, with:
In 2014, Vladimir Putin, the President of the Russian Federation, declares the opening of the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics by speaking in Russian:
In 2016, Brazilian Vice President Michel Temer, as acting president during the suspension of President Dilma Rousseff, opened the Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro with :
In 2018, Moon Jae-in, President of the Republic of Korea declares the opening of the 2018 Pyeongchang Winter Olympics by speaking in Korean:
Dignitaries who have opened the Olympic Games
As of 2018, there have been 47 different individuals who opened the Olympic Games. Four of them have done so more than once. German führer Adolf Hitler was the first person to open more than one Olympic Games; he opened the 1936 Winter and Summer Olympics, both of which were hosted in Germany. He remains the only one to open more than one Games in the same year.Italian president Giovanni Gronchi opened the 1956 Winter Olympics in Cortina d'Ampezzo and the 1960 Summer Olympics in Rome. He was the first democratically elected head of state to open more than one Olympic Games.
Japanese emperor Hirohito opened the 1964 Summer Olympics in Tokyo and the 1972 Winter Olympics in Sapporo. He was the first non-European to open more than one Olympic Games.
Queen Elizabeth II opened the 1976 in Montreal, Canada, and 2012 Summer Olympics in London, Great Britain. She is the first woman to open more than one Olympic Games, first person to open more than one Summer Olympics, and the only one to do so in different host countries. Aside from declaring open the Games by herself, she was represented during the declaration four times: in the 1956 and 2000 Summer Olympics – both were held in Australia – as well as the 1988 and 2010 Winter Olympics – both were held in Canada.
| Year | Games | Host city | Officially opened by | Office of opener | Notes |
| 1896 | I Olympiad |  Athens, Greece | George I | King of the Hellenes | |
| 1900 | II Olympiad | Paris, France | No official opening | No official opening | |
| 1904 | III Olympiad |  St. Louis, United States | ' | President of the Louisiana Purchase Exposition | |
| 1908 | IV Olympiad |  London, United Kingdom | Edward VII | King of the United Kingdom | |
| 1912 | V Olympiad |  Stockholm, Sweden | Gustaf V | King of Sweden | |
| 1920 | VII Olympiad |  Antwerp, Belgium | Albert I | King of the Belgians | |
| 1924 | I Winter |  Chamonix, France | ' | Undersecretary for Physical Education of the French Republic | |
| 1924 | VIII Olympiad | Paris, France | President of the French Republic | ||
| 1928 | II Winter |  St. Moritz, Switzerland | President of the Swiss Confederation | ||
| 1928 | IX Olympiad |  Amsterdam, Netherlands | Prince Hendrik | Prince Consort of the Netherlands | |
| 1932 | III Winter |  Lake Placid, United States | ' | Governor of the State of New York | |
| 1932 | X Olympiad | Los Angeles, United States | ' | Vice President of the United States | |
| 1936 | IV Winter |  Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany | Führer and Reich Chancellor of the German People | ||
| 1936 | XI Olympiad | Berlin, Germany | Führer and Reich Chancellor of the German People | ||
| 1948 | V Winter | St. Moritz, Switzerland | President of the Swiss Confederation | ||
| 1948 | XIV Olympiad | London, Great Britain | George VI | King of the United Kingdom | |
| 1952 | VI Winter |  Oslo, Norway | Princess Ragnhild | Princess of Norway | |
| 1952 | XV Olympiad |  Helsinki, Finland | President of the Republic of Finland | ||
| 1956 | VII Winter |  Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy | President of the Italian Republic | ||
| 1956 | XVI Olympiad | Stockholm, Sweden | Gustaf VI Adolf | King of Sweden | |
| 1956 | XVI Olympiad |  Melbourne, Australia | The Duke of Edinburgh | Consort of the Queen of Australia | |
| 1960 | VIII Winter |  Squaw Valley, United States | ' | Vice President of the United States | |
| 1960 | XVII Olympiad | Rome, Italy | President of the Italian Republic | ||
| 1964 | IX Winter |  Innsbruck, Austria | Federal President of the Republic of Austria | ||
| 1964 | XVIII Olympiad |  Tokyo, Japan | Hirohito | Emperor of Japan | |
| 1968 | X Winter | Grenoble, France | President of the French Republic | ||
| 1968 | XIX Olympiad |  Mexico City, Mexico | President of the United Mexican States | ||
| 1972 | XI Winter | Sapporo, Japan | Hirohito | Emperor of Japan | |
| 1972 | XX Olympiad |  Munich, West Germany | President of the Federal Republic of Germany | ||
| 1976 | XII Winter | Innsbruck, Austria | Federal President of the Republic of Austria | ||
| 1976 | XXI Olympiad |  Montreal, Canada | Elizabeth II | Queen of Canada | |
| 1980 | XIII Winter |  Lake Placid, United States | ' | Vice President of the United States | |
| 1980 | XXII Olympiad |  Moscow, Soviet Union | Chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics | ||
| 1984 | XIV Winter |  Sarajevo, Yugoslavia | President of the Presidency of Yugoslavia | ||
| 1984 | XXIII Olympiad | Los Angeles, United States | President of the United States | ||
| 1988 | XV Winter | Calgary, Canada | ' | Governor General of Canada | |
| 1988 | XXIV Olympiad |  Seoul, Republic of Korea | Roh Tae-woo | President of the Republic of Korea | |
| 1992 | XVI Winter |  Albertville, France | President of the French Republic | ||
| 1992 | XXV Olympiad |  Barcelona, Spain | Juan Carlos I | King of Spain | |
| 1994 | XVII Winter | Lillehammer, Norway | Harald V | King of Norway | |
| 1996 | XXVI Olympiad | Atlanta, United States | President of the United States | ||
| 1998 | XVIII Winter | Nagano, Japan | Akihito | Emperor of Japan | |
| 2000 | XXVII Olympiad | Sydney, Australia | ' | Governor-General of the Commonwealth of Australia | |
| 2002 | XIX Winter | Salt Lake City, United States | President of the United States | ||
| 2004 | XXVIII Olympiad |  Athens, Greece | President of the Hellenic Republic | ||
| 2006 | XX Winter |  Turin, Italy | President of the Italian Republic | ||
| 2008 | XXIX Olympiad |  Beijing, China PR | Hu Jintao | President of the People's Republic of China | |
| 2010 | XXI Winter | Vancouver, Canada | ' | Governor General of Canada | |
| 2012 | XXX Olympiad | London, Great Britain | Elizabeth II | Queen of the United Kingdom | |
| 2014 | XXII Winter |  Sochi, Russian Federation | Vladimir Putin | President of the Russian Federation | |
| 2016 | XXXI Olympiad |  Rio de Janeiro, Brazil | Michel Temer | Vice President of the Federative Republic of Brazil | |
| 2018 | XXIII Winter |  Pyeongchang, Republic of Korea | Moon Jae-in | President of the Republic of Korea | |
| 2020 | XXXII Olympiad |  Tokyo, Japan | Naruhito | Emperor of Japan | |
| 2022 | XXIV Winter | Beijing, China PR | Xi Jinping | President of the People's Republic of China | |
| 2024 | XXXIII Olympiad | Paris, France | TBD | President of France | |
| 2026 | XXV Winter |  Milan and Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy | TBD | President of Italy | |
| 2028 | XXXIV Olympiad | Los Angeles, United States | TBD | President of the United States |
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