For about an hour,a parade of athletes poured into BC Place for the opening ceremony of the Vancouver Olympics on Friday,but only two nations received a full standing ovation. One was Canada,which was celebrating the beginning of its first Winter Games in 22 years. The other was the Republic of Georgia,which was mourning the death of one of its athletes here Friday. The Olympic flame was to be lit by four Canadian sports greats: the hockey player Wayne Gretzky,the skier Nancy Greene,the speedskater Catriona LeMay Doan and the basketball All-Star Steve Nash. Day 1 of these Olympics was still bittersweet,tinged with sorrow and uncertainty. Hours before the ceremony,Nodar Kumaritashvili,a 21-year-old luge athlete from Georgia,was killed when he lost control of his sled while traveling nearly 90 miles per hour during a training run. The opening ceremony was dedicated to him. Flags there were lowered to half staff. For one minute,the entire stadium fell silent in his memory. It is with great sadness that we acknowledge the tragic loss, Jacques Rogge,International Olympic Committee president,said to the crowd. Here you have a young athlete that lost his life in pursuing his passion, he said. He had a dream to participate in the Olympic Games. He trained hard and he had this fatal accident. I have no words to say what we feel. The delegation from Georgia marched into the stadium wearing black bands around their right biceps to honour their fallen teammate. A black ribbon flowed from the top of their flag. Some of the athletes and coaches appeared to fight tears. There was speculation that they were considering pulling out of the Games. But the nation participated in the 2008 Beijing Olympics despite being at war with Russia,and it has remained in these Games so far.
