Paris 2024: All the details of the Olympic Games opening ceremony

The opening of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games was meticulously planned to make it unforgettable. We tell you all the details about this historic moment.

This Friday, July 26, 2024, the inauguration of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games took place, which will go down in history for leaving behind the traditional opening ceremony and taking advantage of its historic capital as the setting for one of the most anticipated sporting events in the world.

For these Olympic Games, the authorities made the decision to use the Seine River as the place for the athletes to parade in boats, so the docks were converted into stands for the millions of spectators and all the famous Parisian monuments could be present during the ceremony.

What is the route of the Paris 2024 opening parade?

The organizers planned for all the teams to start from the Pont d'Austerlitz bridge, next to the Jardin des Plantes, continuing westward for 6 kilometers under emblematic sites such as Notre-Dame, the Louvre, the Esplanade des Invalides and the Grand Palais.

Finally, all the teams will arrive at the Trocadero, on the esplanade of the Eiffel Tower, where all the Olympic protocols took place, but above all, where the Olympic cauldron awaited them.

How many atlets make up the U.S. team?

There were a total of 592 athletes in the U.S. team boat, all of whom hope to bring home a medal. The flag bearer for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games was the well-known basketball player, LeBron James, who leads the basketball dream team.

How did the 2024 Olympic Games start?

As a way to make fun of having broken the tradition of an opening in the stadium, the French decided to show a parody of how the Olympic flame had to travel all over Paris, its streets, ride the subway and run through every corner in a mission where Zinedine Zidane was in charge of carrying it to the Seine River. During their tour they also made mention of its most emblematic places and cultural moments, such as the Catacombs and the famous character of the Phantom of the Opera.

The torch run continued on the Seine River, where one of the bridges displayed the colors of the French flag accompanied by fireworks. The French took the opportunity to look out on the balconies, many stayed to take their places, but others had a special invitation to the stands. After the Olympic torch passed the inaugural bridge, various shows with music were performed on the bridges for the delegations to pass through Paris.

The first delegation to pass through was Greece, with 95 athletes. It should be remembered that the Olympic Games were founded in Greece. The second to pass was the refugee team, 37 athletes who were able to escape from their places of origin for various reasons. The third delegation was Afghanistan, followed by South Africa, Albania and Germany.

During the first block there were 18 delegations, it is worth noting that this year there was a greater representation of women as part of gender parity. The first group also included Saudi Arabia, Armenia, Aruba, Austria, Arzebayan, Bahamas y Barahem. 

At the end of the first block of equipment there was a performance of French cabaret, full of pink feathers with Lady Gaga singing in french as one of the surprises of the opening. After singing a lively song to spice up the inauguration, she approached a piano set up on one of the banks of the Seine and continued dancing as a cabaret dancer would.

In the second block passed Bangladesh, Barbados, Belgium, Belize, Benin, Bermuda, Bitum, Bolivia, Bosnia, Brazil, Brunei, Bulgaria, Burandi, Cape Verde, Cayman Islands, Cambodia, Cameroon, Canada, Central African Republic, Chile and China. 

But the Olympic torch did not stay on a boat, but accompanied by a parade, the children began to walk along the banks of the river, where characters such as Joan of Arc were present. However, there was a mysterious character, who was in charge of carrying the torch across the rooftops of Paris.

The second cultural performance was the classic “Can Can” with a modernized version of the music. This time the whole event was represented by the color hot pink, with 80 artists performing from the Moulin Rouge. While the character passed through the French skies to reach the cauldron. 

To follow the ceremony, the unfortunate fire of the iconic cathedral, Notre Dame, which has been under reconstruction, was recalled. On the other hand, French artists did not miss the opportunity to demonstrate their talent for modern dance, while making reference to French high fashion, one of the fundamental components of the nation.

Continuing with the opening, there was a performance of the classic “Les Miserables” and the Hunchback of Notre Dame. Marie Antoinette also made an appearance, with a design representing her fatal destiny, all set to heavy rock music y opera, in the building where the performance took place, a fireworks display and the opera singer passing by the façade in a boat could be seen, while in the windows several Marias Antonietas could be seen. Throughout the ceremony, classical music and the cultural elements that make France one of the richest nations in the world were recalled.

From the French Revolution, love gave way to a staging in a library where the most famous French books were highlighted, accompanied by a performance in the Parisian sky, which was accompanied by colors and above all the diversity of love in all its forms. Despite the rain, each of the performances showed the beauty of love, where the City of Light had a heart in the sky.

Each of the blocks of the games was accompanied by a phrase or a thought that represents the country. On the bridge of the Arts, the masked man lit fireworks to give way to Aya Nakamura, who dressed in gold, reminisced the catwalks while on the other side of the bridge the band of arms was waiting for her, which accompanied her as part of her musical band. 

On the masked man's tour, he entered the corridors of the iconic Louvre, where the works of art came to life and disappeared from their frames to walk through the museum, each with its own characteristics.

After the third block of teams, Alexander Kantorow musicalized the route of the masked man, who recalled how the Mona Lisa was stolen from the Louvre at one time. The parade continued with each of the delegations of the countries that will participate in the sports games. It should be noted that the size of the boats depended on the number of athletes in the delegations.

The rain was present at the event, but it was not an impediment for the masked man to continue with the history of French culture, where he recalled the invention of cinema, the Little Prince, the French contributions to the whole world. As a surprise and special presentation the Minios appeared in a small block where some of them were practicing the classic sports and it is even seen that they were the culprits of the theft of the Mona Lisa. 

All this led to the classic figure of a woman in a white dress holding the French flag while singing the anthem of France, while new statues emerged showing the representation of women in their culture, sports and politics. These sculptures will be the legacy of the 2024 Olympic Games, which will be distributed throughout the city. 

All along the Seine River there were several performances where not only the representation of the games was seen with some exponents, but also by the music and the floating islands that showed the importance of sports in Paris. 

As a continuation of the ceremony, the cultural and festive diversity of the nation was present, where a catwalk show took place, in which fashion was the queen of the moment. Trans people and drag queens could be seen among the models.

United States present at the parade

The boat that carried the U.S. team was one of the largest of the entire event, where LeBron James made his unprecedented participation as the delegation's flag bearer. The party was present.

In addition, the masked man was shown parading down the catwalk carrying the Olympic flame, which was not extinguished despite the rain. To end the parade of the teams, France was present and the whole city was in an uproar at the sight of their team.

This was the end of the inauguration of Paris 2024

At the end of the parade of delegations, the Eiffel Tower was illuminated in the colors of the European Union to give way to electronic music songs with modern dance, both on the bridges and on the boats where diversity was the message for everyone.

As a way to represent the violence and chaos in the world, the French authorities decided to make a performance with modern dance where they represented how to live with the differences of the rest of the people. 

At the conclusion of the performance, a floating island with a piano on fire was shown while a singer performed “Imagine” as a hymn to peace. To represent the values of friendship and solidarity, another masked character carrying the Olympic flag crossed the river on a mechanical horse as a symbol of peace. During his tour, he recalled the history of the modern Olympics and how they have been through the years. 

At the end of the tour, all the teams arrived at the esplanade of the Eiffel Tower, where the flags were already lined up for the first stage of the tour. When the horse arrived at the bridge, it was transformed into a white flesh and blood one, where all the flags accompanied it from behind to be handed the International Olympic Committee flag to be hoisted. 

It should be noted that the walkway was in the shape of the Eiffel Tower and while the flag was being raised, the Olympic Committee's anthem was played. The work that has been done for the refugees was recognized, as their participation is extremely important to protect and promote those young people who were forced to leave their countries, therefore the creator, Thomas Bach, was recognized, as he demonstrated how sport can change lives. 

During the Organizing Committee president's speech he stated that Paris has a great love story for sports, especially after the last time it hosted the Olympic Games was 100 years ago. He stated that like every country, they have wanted to help the Olympic Games grow, but they were the ones who made them grow, as they came together to make it happen. 

And so the president of the International Olympic Committee welcomed and officially opened the Paris 2024 Olympic Games. As part of the ceremony, the Olympic oath was taken, where both athletes and judges swore to comply with the rules of the Olympic Games, games with solidarity and without discrimination to respect all the values of sport. 

To light the Olympic flame, the masked man gave the fire to Zinedine Zidane, who handed it to Rafael Nadal, while the Eiffel Tower was the site of a light show, where they played with lasers and the image of small sparks jumping from one side to the other. The torch was carried down the Seine River in a boat with Serena Williams, Nadia Comaneci and Carl Lewis. The fire was given to Amélie Mauresmo, who continued to run to carry the flame to the cauldron. She handed it to Tony Parker outside the Leuvre

Outside the museum, everyone gathered to continue the tour with two Paralympic athletes, where the group of athletes who have gone down in history as the best in the world grew. The Olympic flame was given to a wheelchair athlete who was recognized for his career. 

The cauldron showed a large structure alluding to the aerostatic balloon, which when lit began to fly. Closing the event was a special appearance by Celine Dion, who sang in French under the Olympic rings on the Eiffel Tower.

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