Yesterday afternoon was the official opening ceremony. Even though the rain threatened to dampen the atmosphere, it was a memorable afternoon and evening. The athletes all made their way to Goteplats (square close to the library) where we grouped ourselves according to countries. HRH the Prince of Sweden, Daniel, came to greet the athletes and hand over the medals for the morning's 3km and 5 km runs. Unfortunately the rain started soon thereafter, but I don't think anyone minded too much. Goteburg's marching band lead the way as all the teams walked alphabetically to the Lieseberg Amusement Park's arena where the supporters were waiting patiently for us! What a sight to see all the teams enter the arena with supporters cheering away! There were speeches by Olivier Coustere, President of the World Transplant Games Federation and Anders Olsson, President of the Local Organising Committee, among a few others. We also heard the official song for the games, Captain of the Ship by Magnus Rosen.
Afterwards it was all about FUN, as the athletes and supporters descended on the amusement park where there was a variety of restaurants and rides to choose from. All in all a great day that once again made us so thankful towards our donors. The overall message of the evening was that we're all winners. They even had a trophy made with all of our names engraved on it, see pics below, because whether we win medals or not, we've all won a battle to make it to where we are today.
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