King of Belgium greets athletes at Olympic opening ceremony

Antwerp, 14 August 1920 - The 7th Olympic Games were officially opened today in Antwerp.

The proceedings began with each country’s team, carrying its national flag, marching past and saluting the King of Belgium, Albert I. The British team removed their straw hats, while the French team raised their right hands.

Left: the Belgian royal family, including King Albert on the right, in the stand during the ceremony. Right: the French team saluting the royals as they walk past. (Images: Illustrated London News [London England], 21 August 1920)

After the march-past, the athletes organised themselves by nation in the centre of the stadium for inspection by the International Olympic Committee, before King Albert officially declared the games open.

Then, to everyone’s surprise, a number of Belgian soldiers released messenger pigeons which flew to each of the countries represented to announce the opening of the games.

These are the first Olympics since the 1912 games which were held in Stockholm. The 1916 Olympics were due to be held in Berlin but were cancelled due to the Great War.

Belgian soldiers released pigeons to carry the announcement that the games had opened to the nations taking part (Image: Illustrated London News [London, England], 21 August 1920)

[Editor's note: This is an article from Century Ireland, a fortnightly online newspaper, written from the perspective of a journalist 100 years ago, based on news reports of the time.]