Historic river parade and breathtaking cauldron mark start of sporting extravaganza in ‘City of Lights’ – Firstpost

Paris:A historic boat parade on the Seine River kicked off the Paris Olympics with a spectacular French touch on Friday, as the City of Lights welcomed the world’s greatest athletes for a sporting extravaganza.

A breathtaking performance by Celine Dion, a flaming Olympic cauldron lifted into the night sky by a hot air balloon and a dazzling light show from the Eiffel Tower capped a four-hour celebration of French culture, history and art.

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Braving torrential rain, some 300,000 people gathered on the banks of the river to cheer on the armada carrying the competitors past the city’s iconic sites: the Eiffel Tower bearing the five Olympic rings, the Louvre and Notre-Dame Cathedral.

It was the first time that the Olympic Opening Ceremony was held outside the main stadium, making it the biggest launch ever for the “Greatest Show on Earth”.

But the gamble also made the ceremony hostage to the weather, with spectators, VIPs and athletes soaked or huddled in transparent ponchos.

Some spectators refused to let the rain get them down. “I have such an adrenaline rush. It’s very exciting,” said Selene Martinez, 42, who traveled from Mexico for the ceremony.

As it happened | Paris 2024 Olympic Games Opening Ceremony

But others were less stoic in the face of the heavy rain that hit the parade, with some leaving the ceremony early to seek shelter.

“It’s a great idea. The performances are impressive. I just wish it wasn’t raining,” said Pauline Brett, 69, who came from Chicago with her family.

In the City of Love, the ceremony focused on unity and solidarity in a world that has suffered wars, massacres and political upheaval since the Covid-delayed Tokyo Olympics.

Four planes from the French Air Force demonstration team drew a large pink heart in the Parisian sky to set the tone.

For just over a fortnight, organizers hope that superhuman performances by stars like gymnast Simone Biles, tennis champion Novak Djokovic and sprinter Noah Lyles will provide the world with some much-needed distraction.

Beach volleyball at the Eiffel Tower, breakdancing on Place de la Concorde, equestrian sports at the Château de Versailles: 100 years after the last edition of the Olympic Games, Paris will offer a breathtaking setting for this sport.

“I declare open the Paris Games celebrating the 33rd Olympiad of the modern era,” declared President Emmanuel Macron.

Symbolizing the Games’ message of gender parity, French athletics legend Marie-José Perec and three-time Olympic judo champion Teddy Riner lit the Olympic cauldron together.

Celine Dion closed the show from the first floor of the Eiffel Tower, with her first public performance since revealing she suffers from a rare disease.

‘Pushing the limits’

Paris 2024 Olympic organiser Tony Estanguet had said the opening ceremony should “push the boundaries as far as possible”, immediately showing France’s ambition for the Games.

And from Moulin Rouge performers dancing the cancan to a video showing dancers on the scaffolding of fire-damaged Notre Dame, it was a colourful festival of all things French.

Carried through Greece across jets of water flowing from a bridge, accompanied by an accordion player, around 7,000 athletes travelled a six-kilometre stretch of the Seine to the Eiffel Tower in 85 boats.

This unprecedented ceremony triggered a colossal security operation in a city where memories of the Islamist attacks of November 2015 are still fresh.

Around 45,000 police and paramilitary personnel were on duty to protect the ceremony, along with 10,000 soldiers and 22,000 private security personnel.

Snipers, specialist frogmen and AI-augmented cameras have been deployed, with the airspace closed and the area around the Seine virtually locked down.

To everyone’s relief, the ceremony took place without major incident.

“Gender equality”

Sporting royalty mingled with celebrities and world leaders on and off the Seine, which will host the triathlon and marathon swim after a historic clean-up to make it swimmable.

Lady Gaga added a touch of global musical power, with French-Malian R&B star Aya Nakamura also on stage, defying criticism from far-right politicians who suggested her appearance would “humiliate” France.

The ceremony began with a video of French football legend Zinedine Zidane, who took the torch on an unusual journey through the Paris metro and catacombs.

…Gaga oh la la!

Excuse us while we pick our jaws up off the floor 🤯 @Lady Gaga just blew us away with a dazzling French cabaret performance at the #Paris2024 #Opening ceremony! pic.twitter.com/oXBtU8wit3

— The Olympic Games (@Olympics) July 26, 2024

Basketball icon LeBron James and tennis player Coco Gauff carried the flag for Team USA, which has topped the medal table at every Olympics since Beijing in 2008.

True to their slogan “Open Games”, the Paris Olympics can boast gender equality for the first time in their history: at the Paris 1924 Games, the last time the Olympics were held in the city, 4% of the athletes were women.

But the ceremony did not escape the global chaos: to the sound of John Lennon’s song “Imagine”, the city was plunged into darkness, an invitation to reflect.

With heightened security measures for Israeli athletes and a call from the Palestinian team for Israel’s exclusion because of the Gaza war, geopolitics has become an unwelcome intruder in the lead-up to the Olympics.

Russian athletes were banned from the Paris Olympics because of the invasion of Ukraine, and fears of possible Russian destabilisation attempts have been raised ahead of the Games.

“Twisties”

But with the opening of the Games, the stage is set for the 10,500 athletes to realise their dreams and deliver the performance of their lives.

Will American legend Biles recover from her “Twisties” heartbreak in Tokyo? Will Lyles establish himself as Usain Bolt’s rightful heir in sprinting?

LeBron James on the basketball court, Carlos Alcaraz on the clay of Roland Garros, French swimming hopeful Léon Marchand in the pool: the stars are aligned for sporting brilliance.