The opening ceremony of the Paris Olympic Games began on Friday at 7:30 p.m. local time with the broadcast of a film starring comedian Jamel Debbouze and Zinedine Zidane at the Stade de France.
Some 6,800 athletes will sail 6 kilometres through the capital on 85 boats in front of 320,000 spectators during a 3h45 ceremony to open the Olympic fortnight.
In accordance with Olympic protocol, the first boat carried the delegation from Greece, the birthplace of the ancient Games. They were followed by the refugee team and then the rest of the nations in the order of the French alphabet.
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Intermittent showers — the first rainy opening ceremony of a Summer Olympics in more than 70 years — did not deter athletes who had to protect themselves with umbrellas and ponchos as they navigated the choppy waters of the Seine River in boats.
“The rain will not stop us,” declared LeBron James, the American basketball star, covered in a poncho alongside his country’s other flag bearer, tennis player Coco Gauff.
France decided to hold a bold ceremony, its first outside a stadium. Dozens of rulers and dignitaries were in attendance and the rest of the world was watching the open-air extravaganza in Paris.
Some 45,000 police officers and 10,000 soldiers have been deployed to ensure the security of the massive crowd – some 300,000 spectators are expected, in addition to invited foreign leaders – on the banks of the Seine and in surrounding areas.
Fighter planes, surveillance drones and sniper helicopters were the only ones allowed to fly over Paris during the day.
French President Emmanuel Macron declares the opening of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games in a ceremony on the River Seine.
The United States delegation, the medal leader at Tokyo 2020 and one of the favourites to repeat at the top of the table is arriving on the River Seine. Lebron James and Coco Gauff are leading the American expedition. At the last Olympic Games, the United States won 113 medals (39 gold, 41 silver and 33 bronze), far surpassing China’s 89.
A catwalk over the River Seine takes the stage for the opening ceremony with a fashion show, unique to French culture. On the sides of the catwalk, there were entertainers and dancers who accompanied the models as they walked.
The French national anthem was played and the country fell silent. While a woman sang La Marseillaise on top of a building, France paid tribute to the historical women of its country related to the world of arts and science.
The parade continued towards the Pont de Jena, which links the Eiffel Tower (beach volleyball) on the left bank of the Seine with the Trocadero district on the right. The last part of the parade will be on the Place du Trocadero, where the Parc des Champions, another new creation for Paris 2024, will be set up. From Monday, the medal winners will parade there the day after their consecration.
The Notre Dame cathedral in Paris, severely damaged by a fire in 2019, was honoured on Friday in one of the choreographic sequences of the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games.
Performers in construction uniforms danced on the scaffolding of the cathedral, which is expected to reopen on December 8 after years of construction.
On the banks of the Seine just below, and on the rooftops, hundreds of ballet dancers and Paris firefighters performed a choreographed performance.
The Seine River is the star of the opening ceremony. The ceremony did not reach the expected levels of attendance, but up to 316,000 spectators lined the banks of the Parisian River.
The Olympic torch travelled through the Louvre Museum, illuminating some of the most famous works, such as the Venus de Milo and the Winged Victory of Samothrace. The flame is still in the hands of the mysterious figure to whom Zidane handed it in the video that opened the ceremony.
American pop queen Lady Gaga performed Zizi Jeanmaire’s “Mon truc en plumes”, an iconic song from the French music hall, on Friday at the opening ceremony of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.
The first boat, from Greece, crossed the Austerlitz bridge in Paris, marking the start of the parade of delegations along the Seine on Friday, at the start of the opening ceremony of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.
