President Ilham Aliyev attends opening ceremony

Baku, 09 AUGUST,(AzerTAj)The Beijing Olympics have begun with a spectacular opening at the Bird`s Nest stadium packed with a 90,000-strong crowd on Friday.

Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and first lady Mehriban Aliyeva attended the
ceremony which saw 15,000 performers in action.
Some 10,500 athletes will compete in 302 events in 28 sports, one event more than in
Athens four years ago.
Azerbaijan`s 56-strong team, including trainers and doctors entered the arena behind
flag bearer Olympic wrestling champion Farid Mansurov as President Aliyev warmly
greeted his fellow countrymen from the stadium`s VIP section.
Azerbaijani athletes, who will compete in 12 sports, including for the first time in
equestrian and gymnastics team event, will be in action from Sunday.
The games will be held in Beijing, Tianjin, Shanghai, Shenyang, Qingdao, Qinhuangdao
and Hong Kong.