The 28th summer Olympics kicked off with a lavish opening ceremony at the Athens Olympics stadium, opening 16 days of the world's biggest sporting celebration.

Some 10,500 athletes under 202 flags were present at the opening ceremony of the Athens Olympics, returning home in 108 years since the first modern Olympiad was held in 1896.

The opening ceremony, which kicked off at eight forty-five p.m. local time, was an extravaganza of fireworks, Greek mythology and music.

South and North Korean athletes marched hand-in-hand as the 84th delegation into the stadium, dressed in blue and beige, waving a unified flag depicting the Korean Peninsula. It was the second time that the two Koreas have marched together in the Olympics since the 2000 Sydney Games.

Greece, because of its links to the ancient games, entered first, as usual. But, as the host nation, Greek athletes were also the last into the stadium in the biggest procession in Olympic history.

During the next 16 days, South Korea aims to win over 13 gold medals to finish in the top ten in the overall medal tally.

South Korea's Suh Sun-hwa and Cho Eun-young will be competing for the team's first gold in the women's ten-meter air rifling event on Saturday.

Choi Min-ho will also vie for one of the first gold medals in the men's 60-kilogram Judo event.

North Korea aims to nab gold medals in the women's Judo and women's weightlifting events with world champions Kye Sun-hee and Lee Sung-hee competing in the events, respectively.

A total of 301 gold medals are up for grabs in 28 sporting events.