The new president of the International Olympic Committee, Mr. Jacques Rogge, no doubt spent some sleepless nights in his bed in the athletes' village at Salt Lake City. It was his first Olympics since taking over from Mr. Juan Antonio Samaranch, and Mr. Rogge had made an extraordinary decision to stay in the village so that he could see the games from the athletes' point of view.
The initial concern of a terrorist strike was assuaged. The U.S. government's tight security arrangements, on which rested the very dignity of the state, were a success. Nevertheless, terrorism cast a shadow over the opening ceremony. A tattered Stars and Stripes flag, retrieved from the ruins of the World Trade Center in New York, was paraded, and U.S. President George W. Bush declared the games open "on behalf of a proud, determined and grateful nation."
By its ceremony protocol, the IOC regulates the opening declaration in order to prevent the games from being used for political advantage by any state or individual. Therefore, the IOC changed the way in which the ground zero flag was paraded in the stadium; it rejected the U.S. request that the flag be carried in by the U.S. team. But it did not curb the president's words.