ATHENS - A Friday the 13th that began with trouble for Greece ended in triumph with the opening of the 28th Summer Olympics, an inspiring homecoming to where the Games were created nearly 3,000 years ago and were reborn in 1896.

A polished and, at times, profound opening ceremony concluded with blinding fireworks strung across the $132 million Olympic Stadium.

Outside was a country still in shock from a doping controversy surrounding its greatest track star, Kostas Kenteris.

Kenteris, who could be forced to withdraw for missing a drug test and who was injured in a motorcycle accident Thursday, was expected to be the final torchbearer. Instead, a torch-shaped cauldron was lowered to the waiting Olympic flame held by windsurfer Nikolaos Kakalamanakis, a 1996 gold medalist, then climbed back skyward where it will burn until Aug. 29.

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"It really is unbelievable," Diana Taurasi of the Phoenix Mercury said of the spectacle. "It's one thing to watch on TV. But to go down there, you get all the energy and feeling."

The Games begin in earnest today with swimming. Michael Phelps of Baltimore, who dreams of winning as many as eight gold medals, swims in the 400-meter individual medley.

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