He used 23 words: "On behalf of a proud, determined and grateful nation, I declare open the Games of Salt Lake City, celebrating the Olympic Winter Games".
"I declare open the games of London," declares the Queen, kicking off an explosion of fireworks and the arrival of the flag, which is carried by (among others) Doreen Lawrence, Shami Chakrabati and Ban Ki-moon.
Normally, the national leader would say, "I declare open the Games of Salt Lake City, celebrating the XXIII Olympiad of the modern era," perhaps using 17 words because of the length of this host name.
"On behalf of a proud, determined and grateful nation," Bush said shortly after 11 p.m. Eastern time, "I declare open the Games of Salt Lake City, celebrating the Olympic Winter Games".
"I declare open the Games of Rio, celebrating the 31st Olympiad of the modern era".
If at the Winter Games: I declare open the [ordinal number] Olympic Winter Games of [name of the host city].
In 1984, U.S. President Ronald Reagan opened the Los Angeles Summer Olympics with: Celebrating the XXIII Olympiad of the modern era, I declare open the Olympic Games of Los Angeles.
There have been four further exceptions to the rule: In 1976, Elizabeth II, as Queen of Canada, opened the Montreal Olympics (first in French followed by the English) with: I declare open the Olympic Games of 1976, celebrating the XXI Olympiad of the modern era.
The Olympic Charter provides that the person designated to open the Games should do so by reciting whichever of the following lines is appropriate: If at the Games of the Olympiad (Summer Olympics): I declare open the Games of [name of the host city] celebrating the [ordinal number of the Olympiad] Olympiad of the modern era.
I imagined us a newly declared open city, waiting for the occupation, an occupation we wouldn't know how to identify, not at first.
