The 1994 Winter Olympics

1994 Winter Olympics

The 1994 Winter Olympics, officially known as the XVII Olympic Winter Games, was a winter multi-sport event celebrated from 12 to 27 February 1994 in and around Lillehammer, Norway. Lillehammer failed to win the bid for the 1992 event. Lillehammer was awarded the games in 1988, after having beat...

 opening ceremony

Opening ceremony

An opening ceremony is the official opening of a building or event. The opening ceremonies of the Olympic Games and the FIFA World Cup are huge events involving thousands of participants and watched by a massive worldwide audience. On a much smaller scale, some ceremonies mark the opening of a...

took place on 12 February 1994 at Lysgårdsbakken in Lillehammer

Lillehammer

is a town and municipality in Oppland county, Norway, globally known for hosting the 1994 Winter Olympics. It is part of the traditional region of Gudbrandsdal. The administrative centre of the municipality is the town of Lillehammer. As of May 2011, the population of the town of Lillehammer was...

, Norway

Norway

Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...

. Artistic content was made to present a range of Norwegian culture, included Sami

Sami people

The Sami people, also spelled Sámi, or Saami, are the arctic indigenous people inhabiting Sápmi, which today encompasses parts of far northern Sweden, Norway, Finland, the Kola Peninsula of Russia, and the border area between south and middle Sweden and Norway. The Sámi are Europe’s northernmost...

 joik, Telemark skiing

Telemark skiing

Telemark skiing is a form of skiing using the Telemark turn. Unlike alpine skiing equipment, the skis used for telemarking either have a binding that only connects the boot to the ski at the toes, just as in cross-country skiing, or may be released to only connect there.Telemark turns are led with...

, fiddlers and folk dancing, simulations of traditional weddings and their processions, and vetter

Vættir

Vættir or wights are nature spirits in the Norse religion. These nature spirits divide up into 'families', including the Álfar , Dvergar , Jötnar , and even gods, the Æsir and Vanir, who are understood to be prominent families among them. The term 'families' is often translated as 'clans' or...

 from Norse mythology

Norse mythology

Norse mythology, a subset of Germanic mythology, is the overall term for the myths, legends and beliefs about supernatural beings of Norse pagans. It flourished prior to the Christianization of Scandinavia, during the Early Middle Ages, and passed into Nordic folklore, with some aspects surviving...

. After speeches by Heiberg and IOC president Juan Antonio Samaranch

Juan Antonio Samaranch

Don Juan Antonio Samaranch y Torelló, 1st Marquis of Samaranch, Grandee of Spain , known in Catalan as Joan Antoni Samaranch i Torelló , was a Catalan Spanish sports administrator who served as the seventh President of the International Olympic Committee from 1980 to 2001...

, the games were officially declared opened by King Harald V

Harald V of Norway

Harald V is the king of Norway. He succeeded to the throne of Norway upon the death of his father Olav V on 17 January 1991...

. The Olympic Flame

Olympic Flame

The Olympic Flame or Olympic Torch is a symbol of the Olympic Games. Commemorating the theft of fire from the Greek god Zeus by Prometheus, its origins lie in ancient Greece, where a fire was kept burning throughout the celebration of the ancient Olympics. The fire was reintroduced at the 1928...

 was to be carried by a skier down the skijump before lighting the cauldron. Originally this task had rested upon Ole Gunnar Fidjestøl

Ole Gunnar Fidjestøl

Ole Gunnar Fidjestøl is a Norwegian ski jumper who competed from 1983 to 1992 representing Vikersund IF...

, but after he was injured in a practice jump, his back-up Stein Gruben received the honor. The cauldron was lit by Crown Prince Haakon Magnus. The Olympic oath

Olympic Oath

The Olympic Oath is a solemn promise made by one athlete -- as a representative of each of the participating Olympic competitors; and by one judge -- as a representative of each officiating Olympic referee or other official, at the opening ceremonies of each Olympic Games...

s were issued by Vegard Ulvang

Vegard Ulvang

Vegard Ulvang is a Norwegian former cross-country skier who won three Olympic gold medals. At the opening ceremony of the 1994 Winter Olympic Games, he took the ceremonial Olympic Oath on part of all the athletes...

 for the athletes and Kari Kåring

Kari Karing

Kari Kåring is a Norwegian speed skater and sports official.She was born in Lillehammer, and represented the club Lillehammer SK...

 for the officials.

In the day of the opening ceremonies, art thieves stole Edvard Munch

Edvard Munch

Edvard Munch was a Norwegian Symbolist painter, printmaker and an important forerunner of expressionist art. His best-known composition, The Scream, is part of a series The Frieze of Life, in which Munch explored the themes of love, fear, death, melancholia, and anxiety.- Childhood :Edvard Munch...

's masterpiece The Scream

The Scream

Scream is the title of Expressionist paintings and prints in a series by Norwegian artist Edvard Munch, showing an agonized figure against a blood red sky...

from the National Museum in Oslo.