- Historic Seine River opening ceremony dazzles
- Performances by Lady Gaga and Dion
- IOC emphasizes unity amid global tensions
The 2024 Olympics began dramatically in Paris, with hundreds of participants sailing along the River Seine past colorful entertainers on bridges, banks, and rooftops in an extravagant opening ceremony.
For the first time, the “greatest show on Earth” began on a waterway rather than a stadium. The nearly four-hour spectacle culminated in French judo great Teddy Riner and sprinter Marie-Jose Perec lighting a cauldron shaped like a hot air balloon that rose high into the Paris sky.
Blue, white, and red pyrotechnics lit up the sky above Austerlitz Bridge before 6,800 athletes from 205 delegations boarded 85 boats and barges to pass by some of the French capital’s most famous sites.
The evening we featured several surprise performances, including a cabaret number from US singer-songwriter Lady Gaga and an emotional comeback of Canadian superstar Celine Dion.
The day began with a severe interruption when arsonists targeted the French train network, and torrential rain in the evening dashed artistic director Thomas Jolly’s initial idea to use the Parisian sun to “make the water sparkle.”
The heavy rain may have prompted athletes to add rain ponchos and umbrellas to their planned attire, but it did not detract from the vibrant voyage through French history, art, and sport told by about 2,000 musicians, dancers, and other artists.
The last two boats to parade, the US as the next hosts for Los Angeles 2028 and then France, had the most athletes aboard, while other barges brought multiple delegations.
Great Britain’s flagbearers were rower Helen Glover and diver Tom Daley in Paris, which is hosting the summer Olympics for the third time in a row and the first in a century.
In launching the 33rd Summer Olympics, which are taking place against a challenging international and domestic political backdrop, International Olympic Committee (IOC) president Thomas Bach reminded participants they were now “part of an event that unites the world in peace.
The Games will feature over 10,500 competitors competing in 32 sports before closing on August 11.
Paris pulls off an Olympic first.
When organizers first announced their intention to host the opening ceremony along the river in the middle of the city rather than in a stadium as is customary, some raised eyebrows and questioned how they would manage such a massive security operation.
The Seine itself had been criticized for water quality, and the practicalities of conveying thousands of athletes over a six-kilometer stretch of river without a dress rehearsal appeared unrealistic.
But on Friday evening, aided by a security operation involving tens of thousands of police officers, Paris executed its plan spectacularly.
At times, it was bizarre: one moment, Lady Gaga was singing in French while surrounded by pink and black feathers, and the next, Bangladesh’s athletes were introduced on their boat.
It was often beautifully frantic and, at times, emotionally charged.
Given the awful weather after a bright week in Paris, it felt appropriate that the plot at the outset of the event was about the Olympic flame’s arrival in Paris not proceeding as planned.
The torchbearer did not receive the word that it was not in the Stade de France, and Zinedine Zidane’s metro train broke down while bringing the torch.
Ballet, cancan, opera, iconic artwork brought to life, and even Minions were featured. A masked torchbearer occasionally sprints across rooftops and zip-lines as the flotilla makes its way from Austerlitz Bridge to Pont d’Iena.
The boats carrying flag-waving athletes past monuments such as the Louvre Museum, Eiffel Tower, Grand Palais, and Arc de Triomphewere treated to 12 creative portions.
One portion focused on the reconstruction of Notre Dame Cathedral, which was damaged by fire in 2019. A vast company of dancers was joined by music from sounds recorded during the landmark cathedral’s renovation.
Another delved into French history, with costumed singers performing music from Les Miserables and a chorus of headless Marie Antoinettes backing French heavy metal band Gojira.
The musical acts included Aya Nakamura, the world’s most-streamed French-language musician.
The event concluded in the Trocadero, where the neighboring Eiffel Tower was lit. The flame—which had traveled on an elaborate voyage with a masked torchbearer and a mechanical horse—was returned to Zidane, who delivered it to Rafael Nadal, Nadia Comaneci, Serena Williams, and Carl Lewis.
The quartet took the torch on a boat to the Louvre, carrying it by several former and current French athletes and para-athletes, including 100-year-old gold medal rider Charles Coste, before being handed over to Riner and Perec.
And just when you thought the ceremony couldn’t get any more captivating, the couple lit the 30-meter-high hot air balloon, which now appears to be floating above the city.
But there was one more spectacular moment: Dion stunned the crowds near the Eiffel Tower with a robust version of Edith Piaf’s L’Hymne a l’amour, her first performance since revealing a severe neurological ailment in December 2022.
Call for peace in a world ‘torn apart by warfare’
Since the last Olympics, the Beijing 2022 Winter Games, battles have broken out in Ukraine and Gaza.
In his address, Bach reminded the participants that “in a world torn apart by wars and conflicts, thanks to this solidarity, we can all come together tonight, uniting the athletes from the territories of all 206 National Olympic Committees and the IOC Refugee Olympic Team.
Earlier in the ceremony, Paris was plunged into darkness as the opening notes of John Lennon and Yoko Ono’s Imagine, performed by Juliette Armanet on a drifting raft, rang out.
The peace anthem, played at all Olympic opening ceremonies, reflects the Games’ theme of togetherness and tolerance.
The impact of hostilities is being seen at the Olympics, with Russians and Belarusians barred following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Only 15 Russian and 17 Belarussian athletes will compete as Individual Neutral Athletes (AIN) in Paris, and they were not paraded during the opening ceremony.
The athletes from the Palestinian Olympic Committee and the Refugee Olympic Team received some of the biggest cheers of the evening.
Over 100 heads of state and government were present, including Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer and French President Emmanuel Macron.
Gaffes, and an apology
Olympic organizers had to make an apology after South Korean athletes were mistakenly introduced as North Koreans.
They were referred to as the “Democratic People’s Republic of Korea” by both French and English announcers.
The two Koreas have been split since the end of WWII, with tensions between the two states increasingly growing.
The Olympic flag was also raised upside down throughout a portion of the ceremony, which added to the embarrassing situation.
Images appeared to show the five coloured rings of the iconic insignia in the wrong locations and hoisted wrongly.
What happens on Saturday?
On Saturday, 13 gold medals will be awarded, the first of which is anticipated to be in shooting’s mixed team air rifle.
Yasmin Harper and Scarlett Mew Jensen in the women’s 3m synchro (from 10:00 BST) or the road cycling time trials (women’s event from 13:30 BST, men’s at 15:34 BST) may represent Great Britain’s best chances for an opening-day medal.
Other highlights include a first look at swimmer Adam Peaty in the 100m breaststroke heats (from 10:00 BST), Max Whitlock and the rest of the GB men’s gymnasts in qualification (from 10:00 BST), and the men’s rugby sevens, where French fans hope Antoine Dupont can inspire the hosts to victory (final at 18:45).
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On the first day of competition in the pool, four swimming finals will take place, with the women’s 400m freestyle (19:55 BST) including US legend Katie Ledecky, Australian defending champion Ariarne Titmus, and Canadian world record holder Summer McIntosh.
The eventing begins at Versailles (08:30 BST), with Great Britain defending their team title days after equestrian was rocked by Charlotte Dujardin’s withdrawal from the Games, and subsequent provisional suspension, after video emerged showing her “excessively” flogging a horse.
Tennis begins at Roland Garros, with Novak Djokovic and the men’s doubles duo of Carlos Alcaraz and Rafael Nadal competing, while Great Britain’s men’s hockey team faces Spain.
Men’s street skateboarding was initially scheduled for Saturday, however it has been pushed back to Monday due to rain in Paris.
