Unique Parisian flair marks opening of 2024 Olympics

Piece by: BBC

27 July 2024

• Backed by a security operation involving tens of thousands of police, Paris pulled off its plan in dazzling fashion.

The 2024 Olympics opened in Paris in spectacular fashion as thousands of athletes sailed along the River Seine, passing lively performers on bridges, banks, and rooftops. This ambitious take on the opening ceremony swapped the usual stadium setting for a waterway, creating a near four-hour spectacle. The ceremony culminated with French judo great Teddy Riner and sprinter Marie-Jose Perec lighting a cauldron shaped like a hot air balloon that rose high into the Parisian sky.

Blue, white, and red fireworks raised the Tricolore above Austerlitz Bridge before 6,800 athletes from 205 delegations traveled on 85 boats and barges, passing some of the French capital's most famous landmarks. The ceremony featured surprise performances, including a cabaret number from US singer-songwriter Lady Gaga and the emotional return of Canadian icon Celine Dion.

The day started with major disruption due to arson attacks on the French train network, and heavy rain in the evening altered the original plan by artistic director Thomas Jolly to use the Parisian sun to "make the water sparkle." Despite the weather, the athletes added rain ponchos and umbrellas to their planned outfits and enjoyed a lively journey through French history, art, and sport, told by some 2,000 musicians, dancers, and other artists.

The last two boats to parade were from the US, as the next hosts for Los Angeles 2028, and France, with the largest numbers of athletes on board. Rower Helen Glover and diver Tom Daley were Great Britain's flagbearers. Paris, hosting the summer Games for the third time and the first time in 100 years, opened the 33rd summer Olympics against a challenging international and domestic political backdrop. IOC president Thomas Bach told athletes they were part of an event that "unites the world in peace."

More than 10,500 athletes will compete across 32 sports at the Games, which will close on August 11.

Paris Pulls Off an Olympic First

When organizers first revealed plans to hold the opening ceremony along the river in the heart of the city rather than in a stadium, there were raised eyebrows and questions about how they would manage such a huge security operation. The Seine's water cleanliness and the logistics of transporting thousands of athletes along a six-kilometer stretch of river without a dress rehearsal seemed ambitious. However, backed by a security operation involving tens of thousands of police, Paris pulled off its plan in dazzling fashion.

At times it was bizarre—Lady Gaga surrounded by pink and black feathers singing in French, followed by Bangladesh's athletes being introduced on their boat. It was brilliantly frenetic and occasionally emotional. The ceremony began with a storyline about the arrival of the Olympic flame in Paris not going according to plan, fitting given the miserable weather after a sunny week in Paris.

The boats with flag-waving athletes passed landmarks like the Louvre, Eiffel Tower, Grand Palais, and Arc de Triomphe and were treated to 12 artistic segments. One segment focused on rebuilding Notre Dame, which was damaged in a fire in 2019, with dancers accompanied by music composed using sounds from the cathedral's reconstruction. Another segment explored French history with costumed singers performing music from "Les Miserables" and a choir of headless Marie Antoinettes accompanying French heavy metal band Gojira. French-Malian R&B star Aya Nakamura was among the musical acts.

The ceremony ended at the Trocadero, where the nearby Eiffel Tower lit up, with the flame passed to Zinedine Zidane, Rafael Nadal, Nadia Comaneci, Serena Williams, and Carl Lewis. The quartet carried the flame on a boat towards the Louvre, where it was eventually handed to Riner and Perec, who lit the 30-meter high hot air balloon that now looks like it is floating above the city. Celine Dion closed the ceremony with a powerful rendition of Edith Piaf’s "L’Hymne a l’amour."

Call for Peace in a World "Torn Apart by Wars"

Since the last Olympics, wars have started in Ukraine and Gaza. In his speech, IOC president Bach told athletes that "in a world torn apart by wars and conflicts, it is thanks to this solidarity that 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 had been plunged into darkness as the first notes of John Lennon and Yoko Ono's "Imagine," sung by Juliette Armanet on a drifting raft, rang out. The peace anthem, part of all Olympic opening ceremonies, aligns with the message of unity and tolerance conveyed by the Games.

The impact of conflicts is being felt at these Olympics, with Russians and Belarusians banned following the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Just 15 Russian and 17 Belarusian athletes will compete as Individual Neutral Athletes (AIN) in Paris and were not part of the parade at the opening ceremony. Some of the loudest cheers of the evening were for the athletes of the Refugee Olympic Team and the Palestine Olympic Committee.

More than 100 heads of state and government were in attendance, including Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer and French President Emmanuel Macron.