A night to remember

By Elizabeth Hudson
BBC Sport in Athens

A cacophony of noise and colour and a large tree greeted the athletes at the start of the Paralympic Games in Athens.

Show lights up Paralympics Images from the ceremony

After the success of the Olympic Games opening ceremony, the organisers of the Paralympic equivalent were determined to make their show one to remember.

The sell-out crowd of 72,000 packed into the stadium to discover a tree in the centre of the track but the purpose of the tree remained secret until later on, after the parade of the nations.

The 4,000 or so athletes from 136 nations made their way around the track.

Some, like Afghanistan and Iraq were respectful, others, like the Germans and the French, played to the camera but all were immensely proud to be part of a unique occasion.

Perhaps none was more proud than Great Britain's Noel Thatcher who carried his team's flag - something the five-times Paralympian described as "an enormous honour".

Thatcher resisted the temptation to dye his hair in the colours of the national flag - unlike the Croatian carrier, whose head featured the red and white checks on their flag.

Behind him were the rest of the GB team, immaculately turned out in their navy blazers, white shirts and beige trousers and skirts, full of happy smiles and waving enthusiastically to the appreciative crowd, including IPC president Phil Craven.

The crowd played a big part in the success of the ceremony, whether it was the Mexican waves, both before the event began and during it and giving huge support to the athletes who progressed around the arena to the sound of drum beats.

Australia are one of 136 nations at the Games

Although the Australians and USA teams got big responses early on, it was the smaller nations like Niger and Ethiopia with only a handful of athletes who were also warmly welcomed to the Greek capital.

Some athletes had messages on their flags or homemade posters, hoping to send a greeting back home to friends and family.

The Chinese team had two special messages, unfurling a banner that said "Thank you Athens," and mindful of Beijing in four years time, another which said "Welcome to China 2008".

But the biggest reception of all was reserved for the host nation, the last country to parade around the track.

There was, of course, the usual mix of symbolism and tradition with the spectacular dancing and movement, complete with sign language, describing the journey to the sun.

However, there were the more core fundamentals of the Paralympics - the welcoming speeches, the athlete's oath and the all-important lighting of the flame with a spectacular firework climax at the end of over three hours.

And the tree?

It was the focus for images of water, earth, air and sun during the 'Journey to the Sun' and it remains happily there - hopefully to be removed before the javelin competition takes place.