Frozen moments

Ten things that made the opening ceremonies special

SALT LAKE CITY -- In the aftermath of Sept. 11, the Olympic opening ceremonies on U.S. soil were especially poignant, particularly the entrance of the tattered American flag that was brought in from ground zero in New York. Here, in no particular order, is a list of 10 other noteworthy moments from Friday's event at Rice-Eccles Stadium in Salt Lake City:

Welcome to the Show

Athletes have traditionally been introduced in the parade of nations after much of the ceremony has taken place. Instead of watching from inside the stadium, the athletes have often stood in a holding area for an extended period of time only to arrive towards the end of the ceremony. This time, SLOC officials convinced the IOC to adjust the order of events so that athletes could be in the stadium for most of the entertainment. Not only was this fairer to the athletes, but their enthusiastic reactions to and interactions with parts of the show they were able to see enhanced the festivities.

We're With You I

Athletes from several nations, including Ireland, the Czech Republic, even Lebanon carried flags from not only their own nation, but also that of the United States.

We're With You II

After IOC president Jacques Rogge expressed solidarity with U.S. citizens lost in the tragedy on Sept. 11, athletes from a number of countries turned to face their counterparts from the U.S. team. A few unofficial sets of eyes estimated that the German team was the first to stand.

Native Nations

The five major Native American nations of Utah had not appeared together in a public celebration before last night. Each of the five tribes was represented by one flute player who blew a different note before blowing a note in unison, symbolizing the harmonic chord struck by the occasion.

Hello, World

The Olympic flag is traditionally brought into the stadium by former athletes from the host nation. But last night there was an international twist: The eight flagbearers represented the five continents, the Americas (U.S. astronaut John Glenn ), Europe (former Polish president Lech Walesa ), Africa (South African archbishop Desmond Tutu ), Asia (Japanese ski jumping gold medalist Kasuyosji Funaki ), Oceania (Australian gold medalist and former torch bearer Cathy Freeman , as well as the three pillars of the Olympic movement, including sport (ski legend Jean-Claude Killy ), culture (film director Steven Spielberg ) and the environment ( Jean-Michelle Cousteau , the son of oceanographer Jacques Cousteau ).

Hello, Mr. President

President Bush opened the Games from a spot in the U.S. delegation. As Bush stood among his countrymen, U.S. figure skater Sasha Cohen whipped out her cell phone and handed it to Bush who began speaking to the party on the other line.

Pairs Champions

You wont see them together often, but recording artist Sting and cellist Yo-Yo Ma teamed up on a musical number after the athletes were seated.

New Life

Bill Johnson was lucky to be alive for these ceremonies after a training crash left him comatose for several days. Johnson has made a remarkable physical recovery, though the 1984 Olympic downhill champion has no memory of the accident and the resulting brain damage, is unfortunately very noticeable. Johnson was one of the final torch bearers Friday, sharing the honor on the floor of the stadium with Phil Mahre, a teammate and fellow alpine gold medalist from the Sarajevo Games.

Do you believe in déjà vu?

The U.S. hockey team lit the torch in a re-enactment of the medal ceremony in 1980. First team captain Mike Eruzione, a bit thinner on the top and quite a bit thicker in the middle, accepted the torch from skier Picabo Street and hockey player Cammi Granato. He then stood on a podium, much like the one that supported him at the 1980 Games. Yesterday, as he did in 1980, Eruzione motioned for his teammates to join him on the podium. They then reached up with their hands and lit the cauldron as a group.

Oh, Shea Can You See

The death of Jack Shea, the oldest gold medalist at age 91 last month was heartbreaking. Shea, who won two gold medals in speedskating at the 1932 Lake Placid Games, said often how much he was looking forward to seeing his grandson, Jim Jr., a former world champion in skeleton, appear in the Salt Lake City Games. Jim was twice honored in the ceremonies, reciting the oath on the part of the athletes and carrying the torch briefly in the stadium along with his father, Jim Sr., who became the second Shea to appear in an Olympics when he competed in Nordic combined in 1964.

Sports Illustrated staff writer Brian Cazeneuve is in Utah covering the Games for the magazine and CNNSI.com. Check back regularly to read Cazeneuve's behind-the-scenes reports from Salt Lake City.