COMING TOGETHER : UNITY, PEACE FOCUS OF EVENT.

Byline: Jon Wilner Daily News Staff Writer

At 12:01 a.m. Saturday in Olympic Stadium, President Clinton declared open the Games of the 26th Olympics.

And it is a historic occasion, the Centennial Olympics - symbolizing a worldwide unity never seen before. A record 197 nations and nearly 11,000 athletes are participating, but more telling is this: For the first time, every country invited to participate accepted.

No boycotts. No protests. No ``Unified Team.''

South Africa is here. Cuba is here. So are North Korea, Yugoslavia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina. Israel and Palestine, Iraq and Iran - which boasts a female competitor for the first time since 1979 - are present and accounted for.

Atlanta Committee for the Olympic Games President Billy Payne called it ``the greatest peacetime event in modern history . . . the largest gathering of nations ever . . . (and) greatest assembly of athletic talent ever known.''

Earlier in the day, Clinton met with the U.S. athletes. He vowed to determine the cause of the TWA jet crash, but also celebrated the Games.

``I want you to mop up and do great,'' he said. ``But realize that by being what you already are, you are a source of enormous pride to our country.''

While dampening the mood, the TWA tragedy also served to emphasize the role of the Olympics - and the Opening Ceremony specifically - as a unifying world force. ``The Opening Ceremony makes you feel like the world is all under one roof, and everybody understands what everybody else is about,'' said Teresa Edwards, a basketball player who took the Olympic Oath for the United States.

The Opening Ceremony producers hoped to present a multicultural American society to the ``world torn anew by racial and ethnic and religious struggles,'' said ACOG official John MacAloon.

That theme was evident from the start. Segments featured ``clogging,'' a Southern folk dance that derives from United Kingdom country dances of the 17th century; ``stepping,'' a name given to the movement style of the eight major African-American fraternities and sororities; and pick-up trucks, which organizers termed ``an icon of cultural style.'' Perhaps in the South.

The one factor beyond official control, the weather, was a gracious guest. Heat and humidity - both inherently linked with Atlanta summers - were present and accounted for, but the rain stayed away.

When the countdown clock on the giant video screen hit 00:00 at 5:45, fireworks lit the sky above the 83,000-seat Olympic Stadium.

The theme of unification pervaded immediately, as the five colorful Olympic Spirits - blue for Europe, green for Australia, black for Africa, yellow for Asia and red for the Americas - called the tribes of the world to Atlanta.

A tribute to the host city followed Clinton's entrance. Former President Carter was conspicuous by his absence in the ceremonies. He is one of Georgia's most famous natives, but also viewed with skepticism by the Olympic movement for his role as the architect of the 1980 boycott of the Moscow Games.

At least for one night, sport was bigger than politics: Carter watched from the stands.

A tribute to the ancient Olympics followed. It was perhaps the most striking part of the evening, with a 20,000-watt lamp and a 50-foot piece of white silk. Using silhouette imagery, performers struck classic Olympic poses, the thrower, wrestler and runner.

The Parade of Nations began at 9:55. As the birthplace of the Games, Greece traditionally leads the procession. But this year its position carried greater importance. Still angry that Athens was not chosen to host the Centennial Games, Greece nevertheless sent a record 121 athletes to its antagonist city.

After Greece came Afghanistan, the object of the Soviet Union's invasion and, thus, the reason for Carter's boycott. It was followed by nations as obscure as Bhutan, Burkina Faso, Comoros, Guinea-Bissau, Lesotho, Malawi, Nauru, San Marino, Togo and Vanuatu.

At 11:38, the American delegation entered the stadium to thunderous applause. The men were dressed in blue sport jackets and white pants, the women in red jackets and blue skirts.

Among the 662 athletes - 182 more than the second-largest contingent, Germany - were Monica Seles and Hakeem Olajuwon, born in Yugoslavia and Nigeria, respectively, and both recently granted U.S. citizenship. Add the Dream Team and its $100 million salaries, and the Americans certainly fostered a come-one, come-all feeling.

There was a brief tribute to Atlanta native Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. followed, featuring a few lines from his ``I Have a Dream'' speech.

The historical theme continued, as outstanding performers of previous Olympics were honored: Bob Beamon, Mark Spitz, Nadia Comaneci, Teofilo Stevenson, Carl Lewis (who is participating in the long jump this year), Greg Louganis, Vitaly Scherbo.

Also honored was 97-year-old Slovenian gymnast Leon Stukelj, the oldest living gold medalist. (He won the all-around in Paris in 1924.)

The suspense built as the 83,000 spectators wondered who would carry the torch into the stadium. At 12:19, former gold medalist and heavyweight champion Evander Holyfield appeared with it. He then joined Voula Patoulidou, the first Greek woman to win a gold medal (in Barcelona in 1992).

They ran a short distance, then handed the torch to current Olympian and three-time gold medalist Janet Evans.

She raced up, up and up the ramp and at the top handed the torch to ``the Greatest,'' Muhammed Ali - a former gold medalist (1960), now ravaged by Parkinson's disease, who stands with Pele as the most famous athlete in the world for the past quarter century, and who stands alone in the United States as the most influential.

CAPTION(S):

3 Photos

Photo: (1--color) Retired champion boxer Muhammad Ali li ghts the Olympic flame Friday night.

(2--color) U.S. athletes celebrate upon entering the Atlanta stadium during the Opening Ceremonies.

(3) The silhouette of a javelin thrower was part of a performance celebrating the ancient Games on Friday.

Associated Press