A historic boat parade down the River Seine launched the Paris Olympics with spectacular French flair on Saturday morning AEST, as the City of Light welcomed the world’s greatest athletes for a sporting spectacle.
Some 300,000 people braved the banks of the river to cheer on the armada as it took competitors past the city’s iconic landmarks: the Eiffel Tower with its five Olympic rings, the Louvre and Notre Dame.
This hugely ambitious display marked the first time the Olympic Opening Ceremony took place outside the main stadium, making it the largest ever launch of the “Greatest Show on Earth”.
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But that gamble also left the ceremony hostage to the weather, with spectators, VIPs and athletes finding themselves drenched or huddled in transparent ponchos.
Some spectators refused to let the downpour bring them down.
“I have such an adrenaline rush. It’s very exciting,” said Selene Martinez, 42, who flew from Mexico for the ceremony.
But others were less stoic about the heavy rain during the parade, with some leaving the ceremony early to seek shelter.
“It’s a great idea. The performances are great. I wish it wasn’t raining,” said Pauline Brett, 69, who came from Chicago with her family.
In the City of Love, the ceremony highlighted solidarity and unity in a world that has suffered wars, massacres and political unrest since the Covid-postponed Tokyo Olympics.
Four jets from the French Air Force demonstration team drew a large pink heart in the Paris sky to set the tone.
For more than two weeks, organizers have hoped that the superhuman performances of stars such as gymnast Simone Biles, tennis champion Novak Djokovic or sprinter Noah Lyles will provide the world with much-needed distraction.
Beach volleyball on the Eiffel Tower, break dancing on the Place de la Concorde, equestrian sports in the Palace of Versailles: 100 years since Paris last hosted the Olympic Games, the city will provide a beautiful backdrop for the sport.
“I declare the Paris Games open in honor of the 33rd Olympiad of the modern era,” President Emmanuel Macron said.
French former sprinter Marie-Jose Perec and French judoka Teddy Riner jointly lit the Olympic cauldron at the end of the ceremony, officially launching the Games.
The cauldron surrounded a hot air balloon, with the entire structure floating into the sky near the Louvre.
Paris 2024 organizer Tony Estanguet had said the opening ceremony should “push the boundaries as far as possible”, demonstrating France’s ambition for the Games from the start.
And from Moulin Rouge performers doing the cancan to a video of dancers on the scaffolding of the fire-damaged Notre Dame, it was a colorful celebration of French culture, history and art.
Accompanied by Greek jets of water flowing down from a bridge, about 7,000 athletes, accompanied by an accordionist, sailed 85 boats down a six-kilometer stretch of the Seine to the Eiffel Tower.
The unprecedented ceremony sparked a colossal security operation in a city where memories of the November 2015 Islamist attacks remain raw.
About 45,000 police and paramilitary officers were on hand to protect the ceremony, along with 10,000 soldiers and 22,000 private security guards.
Snipers, specialist frogmen and AI cameras were deployed, while airspace was closed and the area around the Seine was virtually sealed off.
Residents and business owners grumbled about disruptions and lost income, but organizers hope to win them over when the sport starts.
Sporting royalty mingled with celebrities and world leaders on and around the Seine, where the triathlon and swimming marathon will take place after a historic clean-up to make it swimmable.
Lady Gaga added global musical star power with French-Malian R&B star Aya Nakamura also performing, defying criticism from far-right politicians who suggested her performance would “humiliate” France.
The ceremony started with a video of French football legend Zinedine Zidane, who took the torch on an unusual journey through the metro and catacombs of Paris.
Basketball icon LeBron James and tennis player Coco Gauff carried the flag for Team USA, which has topped the medal list at every Olympic Games since Beijing in 2008.
True to the slogan ‘Games Wide Open’, the Paris Olympics can boast gender equality for the first time: in Paris in 1924, the last time the Olympic Games were held in the city, four percent of the athletes were women.
But the ceremony did not shy away from the chaos in the world – to the sounds of John Lennon’s ‘Imagine’, the city was plunged into darkness as an invitation to reflection.
With extra security for Israeli athletes, plus a call from the Palestinian team to exclude Israel over the Gaza war, geopolitics has been an unwanted intrusion in the lead-up to the war.
Russian athletes have been banned from the Paris Olympics due to the invasion of Ukraine, and possible Russian destabilization efforts have sparked fears in the run-up to the Games.
But now that the Games are open, the stage is set for the 10,500 athletes to realize their dreams and deliver the performances of a lifetime.
Can American legend Biles recover from her “Twisties” heartbreak in Tokyo? Will Lyles establish himself as Usain Bolt’s rightful sprinting heir?
LeBron James on the basketball court, Carlos Alcaraz on the Roland Garros clay, French swimming talent Leon Marchand in the pool – the stars align for sporting brilliance
