SYDNEY-- Carrying the hopes of her nation both in sport and racial reconciliation, 400-meter world champion Cathy Freeman ran a guard of honor the length of the stadium before lowering the Olympic torch into a pool of water Friday to light a submerged cauldron to open the biggest and last Olympic Games of the 20th century.

The 27-year-old Aboriginal athlete, who won silver at the Atlanta Olympics and who has been the face of the Sydney Games for months, stood inside a ring of flame as the cauldron rose from below the waterline and hovered like a spacecraft above her, before making its ascent to the top of Stadium Australia's northern stand.

The stadium shuddered with roars of excitement throughout a four-hour opening ceremony featuring 12,600 performers and 6,000 backstage workers.

The $40 million curtain-raiser to the Games of the 27th Olympiad heralded the start of the world's biggest sporting event, and only the second attended by all member nations of the International Olympic Committee, after Atlanta.

"I declare open the Games of Sydney, celebrating the 27th Olympiad of the modern era," Australian Governor-General Sir William Deane said, stammering over the word Sydney to formally launch the 16-day competition.

The appearance of Freeman, who first divided Australians and has since inspired many for choosing to carry the Aboriginal flag after winning the 400-meters at the Commonwealth Games in Victoria, British Columbia, in 1994, was the most tightly guarded secret kept from an estimated 17,000 media representatives in Sydney, having been decided less than a day earlier. However, early reaction to Freeman as the torch bearer was mixed, with some callers to talk-back radio disapproving of her choice.

More cheers and a fireworks display ended the ceremony, watched by a record crowd of 110,000 people in the stadium at Sydney's Homebush Bay and up to 4 billion more on television around the globe.In his speech, IOC President Juan Antonio Samaranch recognized the nation's first people, who are locked in a struggle with white Australia for land rights and an apology for past crimes against them.

"I would like to express our respect to those who have made Australia what it is today -- a great country, with special tribute to the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people," he said."The Olympic Games are unique. They unify men and women of all origins and creed," Samaranch told the crowd. "The contribution of sport for the understanding and unity of our society is unique. Sport is also an essential part of education, which is the real wealth of any country in the world."

U.S. President Bill Clinton's daughter, Chelsea, the world's richest man Bill Gates, media mogul Rupert Murdoch, British Olympic Committee President Princess Anne and fellow IOC member Prince Albert of Monaco were among the crowd that welcomed the "parade of nations," featuring more than 110,000 athletes and officials from 199 nations.

The crowd cheered, whistled and waved to the athletes, who waved their hats and national flags as they paraded around the track.

Japan was the 92nd nation to enter the stadium, arriving to a loud cheer. Judo world champion Kosei Inoue held the Hinomaru hoisted high as he led a delegation of around 100 athletes and 90 officials, cloaked in rainbow-colored capes.

Judoka Masae Ueno, millionaire keirin cyclist Shinichi Ota, softball team captain Misako Ando and tennis player Nana Miyagi cut the elegant figures of pixies as they waved to the crowd with their hooded hands.

Beach volleyball players Yukiko Takahashi and Mika Saiki, as well as naturalized Japanese table tennis ace Seiko Iseki also marched.

Not present were team captain Masanori Sugiara -- pitching for his third Olympic medal -- and other members of Japan's baseball and soccer teams.

Judoka Ryoko Tamura and members of the swimming team were absent, deciding to prepare for competitions Saturday, while Japanese trampolinist and medal hope Daisuke Nakata was resting a bruised heel incurred in practice.

The audience erupted in a deafening show of support as the two Koreas marched into the stadium under the same flag.

In other reminders of how the world has changed in four years, Hong Kong marched for the first time as part of China and East Timorese marched as independent athletes.

The crowd also cheered loudly for the 11 delegates from strife-torn Fiji, and a mixed group of Muslims, Serbs and Croats marched under the flag of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Competition begins today with the first medals being awarded in the women's 10-meter air rifle and men's 10-meter air pistol events at 4:15 p.m. Yasuko Tajima is expected to be first off the blocks in Japan's race for gold in the 400-meters individual medal relay final starting at 7 p.m. Saturday night.

Tamura and Tadahiro Nomura in the under-60 kg will get their chance several hours later in judo.

The Sydney Games mark the 100th anniversary of women's participation in the modern Olympics, launched in Athens in 1896.

The ceremony was an extravaganza of such scale that Director of Ceremonies Ric Birch, who also directed the opening and closing ceremonies for the Games in Los Angeles in 1984 and Barcelona in 1992, said it was unlikely to ever be topped.

A showcase of contemporary Australian art and multiculturalism, it began with a deafening roar from the crowd as 120 stock riders streamed into the stadium on horseback. The cultural program began when Sydney schoolgirl Nikki Webster wandered onto the field, smeared zinc-sun block across her nose and fell into a dream.

It was a seamless journey across Australia's oceans, among its Aboriginal traditional owners, its unique nature and two centuries of new settlers from around the globe, shared in a spectacle of sound, neon color, dance and special effects.