Faumuina emotional as she leads NZ into Olympics

11.30am UPDATE


ATHENS - Beatrice Faumuina was overcome with emotion after she led the New Zealand Olympic team into the stadium for the Athens Games opening ceremony today.

Faumuina, 29, the first Pacific Islander to carry the New Zealand flag at an Olympic Games, proudly marched at the head of 151 New Zealanders into the arena where she achieved her greatest sporting feat -- the world discus title in 1997.

The occasion was so overpowering that she burst into tears.

"I wasn't going to, but it was just overwhelming and so beautiful," she told NZPA by cellphone from the stadium floor.

The atmosphere in the stadium was electric, she said.

"It's fantastic, just fantastic, this place is absolutely rocking."

Faumuina, wearing a traditionally woven Maori cloak, was one of 95 New Zealand athletes marching in the ceremony.

New Zealand viewers watching the opening ceremony this morning missed out on pictures of Fauimina marching at the head of the team.

It is customary to get a close-up shot of each country's flagbearer.

"It was unbelievable," said TVNZ executive producer Stu Dennison, who is co-ordinating the Auckland end of TVNZ's Olympic coverage.

"We're covered by the host broadcaster, so we've got no control over the pictures we get. The director must have had a rush of blood to the head. I think we were the only team that didn't get a shot of the flagbearer."

Dennison said he was hopeful a TVNZ news crew at the opening ceremony would have shot pictures of Faumuina "so we'll have something for posterity".

Details of the number of complaints received were unavailable, a TVNZ spokeswoman said.

Many athletes missed the event as they have to compete tomorrow (tonight NZ time) and the opening ceremony can be tiring for marchers who have to line up for hours outside the stadium, waiting for their big entrance.

Those who did march were unlikely to reach their beds until about 2am.

New Zealand marching numbers were padded out by officials. Two famous names among them, Olympic gold medallists Murray Halberg and Ian Ferguson, were given a hurry-up by Greek officials as they dragged behind the main New Zealand body, waving and taking photos as they circled the track.

New Zealand was the 130th nation to enter the stadium, after performing a haka in the holding area outside.

Athletes paraded from 202 nations, including Kiribati making its Olympic debut.

Iraq were given a huge welcome when they entered the stadium, winning higher decibel support than the United States, which last year invaded and occupied the Middle East nation.

Professional athletes were among the more famous flag bearers, with world tennis No 1 Roger Federer carrying the Swiss flag, and towering NBA basketball star Yao Ming leading in China.

Swimming ace Alexander Popov headed Russia, world 100m champion Kim Collins did the job for St Kitts and Nevis, with basketball player Dawn Staley holding aloft the star spangled banner of the US team.

Predicted to be a Greek tragedy, the Athens Olympics looked more like a classic as the opening ceremony provided a spectacular lesson in Greek history.

After being beset by delays, lack of money and lack of action, Athens took off like Pegasus, the flying horse of Greek mythology.

A giant sea was created by flooding the arena, a flaming comet shot into the water and lit up the Olympic rings as 400 percussionists thundered a heartbeat rhythm.

It was a vibrant welcome home for the Olympic Games as they returned to their ancient birthplace to the sound of duelling bouzoukis.

Billions watching on television and 70,000 spectators in a sold-out Olympic Stadium were treated to a lesson in Greek culture and history.

Visuals traced the history of Greece from 2000BC to modern times, through a colourful parade of stylised figures.

Nude athletes, a dragon, folk dancers, a pregnant woman and a DNA strand all put in an appearance as Olympic Stadium was turned from sporting venue into a cultural lesson.

Traditional blended with cutting edge modern, in the shape of Icelandic singer Bjork and Belgian club DJ, Tiesto.

Even the middle-aged were not ignored as dulcimer player Areti Ketime performed Never on a Sunday, one of the few Greek songs in history to venture anywhere near the pop music charts.

Wellington composer John Psathas was one of 18 who penned music for the opening ceremony. The senior lecturer at Victoria University's School of Music has won international acclaim for his work.

The ceremony was topped off by Greek windsurfer Nikos Kaklamanakis, who won a gold medal at the 1996 Atlanta Games, lighting the cauldron at the end of a slender 31 metre arm that rose slowly over one end of the stadium. Olympic 200m champion Kostas Kenteris had been widely expected to light the flame until being caught in controversy this week.

He and Olympic sprint silver medallist Katerina Thanou did not attend the opening ceremony. They were hospitalised with minor injuries after a motorcycle crash, which followed accusations that both had been evading drug tests.

Their involvement in the Athens Games remains in doubt.

Looking past the show, intense security was evident.

An airship loaded with surveillance gear floated over the main stadium with a helicopter escort, and fighter planes could be seen streaking through the night sky.

Athens has been labelled Europe's biggest peacetime security operation, with the opening ceremony given the intense security gold medal.

British Prime Minister Tony Blair, Russian PM Vladimir Putin, and former United States President George Bush were part of the reason, as they attended the three-hour ceremony.

- NZPA