Opening Ceremonies in Vancouver

SI's shots from the Opening Ceremonies in Vancouver, where more than 50,000 ticketholders packed into the stadium for the first Olympic opening or closing ceremony ever held indoors.

The opening act featured a snowboarder leaping through giant Olympic rings.

The ceremonies were dedicated to Nodar Kumaritashvili, the luger from Georgia who died in a training exercise earlier in the day.

About 2,500 athletes from a record 82 countries are participating in the games, vying for medals in 86 events -- including the newly added ski-cross competition.

Canada is brashly proclaiming its intention to finish atop the medals table on its home turf.

The Games began with a colorful indoor ceremony involving a host of stars linking Canada's past with its present.

The ceremonies highlighted performers and traditions from Canada's aboriginal communities.

Special effects included tall ice statues.

China is projected to win 15 medals, four more than it did four years ago.

The seven remaining members of the Georgian team, who decided to stay and compete, wore black armbands as they marched behind a black-trimmed flag. Most of the crowd rose to give respectful applause.

The U.S. flagbearer was Mark Grimmette, 39, of Muskegon, Mich., competing in his fifth Olympics as a doubles luge competitor. Kumaritashvili would have been one of his Olympic rivals.

The loudest ovation came midway through, when the red-clad Canadian team -- aiming for a first-place finish -- entered the stadium as the last contingent of the parade of nations.

Canadians Nelly Furtado and Bryan Adams sang a tribute to the athletes.

Celtic fiddlers performed under a stadium-wide cascade of autumn leaves.

An acrobat on wires performed an aerial ballet to the strains of Joni Mitchell's "Both Sides Now."

John Furlong, the chief executive of the Vancouver Organizing Committee, said the aim of the opening ceremonies was to display "the very best of what Canada has to offer."

The climax called for the cauldron to be lit jointly by four Canadian sports heroes -- all-time hockey great Wayne Gretzky, skier Nancy Greene, basketball All-Star Steve Nash and LeMay Doan. But the former speedskating medalist was left to stand by awkwardly when one of the four pillars holding the Olympic cauldron failed to rise.

Following the stadium lighting (pictured), Gretzky was transported to a second, far larger cauldron that he lit in a plaza along the downtown waterfront -- giving Vancouver a visible symbol for the rest of the games that the indoor stadium could not provide.

The flame reached the stadium after a 106-day torch relay across Canada, passing through more than 1,000 communities in every province and territory.

The Winter Games are scheduled to end on Feb. 28.