Opening Ceremony
The opening ceremony took place on February 22, 2007 at 19:30 Japan Standard Time (JST) (10:30 UTC) at the Sapporo Dome, with 23,602 spectators. Mr. Fumio Ueda, Sapporo Mayor and Organizing Committee President, delivered a welcome speech, along with Ms. Yasuko Ikenobo, Deupty Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology; and Ms. Harumi Takahashi, Governor of Hokkaido. His Imperial Highness Prince Akishino also delivered words of welcome, followed by numerous performances paying tribute to local traditions. After the opening ceremonies were completed, the men's and women's individual sprint cross country skiing competitions took place.
Read more about this topic: FIS Nordic World Ski Championships 2007
Famous quotes containing the words opening and/or ceremony:
“Go to the ant, thou sluggard; consider her ways, and be wise.”
—Bible: Hebrew Proverbs, 6:6.
The words were rendered by Samuel Johnson in the opening lines of The Ant: “Turn on the prudent ant thy heedful eyes, Observe her labours, sluggard, and be wise.”
“We are nothing but ceremony; ceremony carries us away, and we leave the substance of things; we hang on to the branches and abandon the trunk and body.”
—Michel de Montaigne (1533–1592)