Dimitris Papaioannou releases new videos of Athens 2004 Olympic opening ceremony

To mark the 22nd anniversary of the Athens 2004 Olympic Games opening ceremony, choreographer and director Dimitris Papaioannou has released two new high-definition videos of the event.

Papaioannou, who served as the artistic director for both the opening and closing ceremonies, shared the new montages on Instagram. The original ceremony, held on August 13, 2004, at the Olympic Stadium, was noted for its attempt to bridge ancient Greek heritage with modern Greek identity through the use of light, water, music, and human movement.

The 2004 Games marked the return of the Olympics to Greece, 108 years after the first modern games in 1896. The opening ceremony featured a symbolic 28-second countdown, where each second represented one Olympiad from the revival of the games to their return to Athens.