The opening ceremony of the Paris 2024 Olympics made history on Friday as the first to be held outside a stadium, marking the official start of the Summer Olympics.
Despite intermittent rain that night, fans lined the Seine to watch from their apartments as the flame was carried down the river to the Trocadero, where judo star Teddy Riner and 400-meter sprinter Marie-Josée Pérec lit the cauldron.
To commemorate Paris’ role in founding the modern Olympic Games, the city redesigned one of its bridges with Olympians engraved in gold. As part of the celebrations, organizers also unveiled new statues of outstanding French women, which will be donated to the city after the Olympics. This is an effort to increase the number of statues commemorating women on display in Paris. Currently, there are 260 statues of male historical figures in the city, but only 40 of female figures.
After the opening sequence, athletes from all over the world came down the river in boats over the bridge. Greece led the parade of athletes, followed by the Olympic Refugee Team, a team made up of independent Olympians who are refugees from around the world. From there, the rest of the groups went down the river in alphabetical order, although some countries shared barges.
BYU students and alumni Kenneth Lukes and James Corrigan were seen on the air multiple times aboard the Team USA ship, which was packed (594 players) with LeBron James and Coco Gauff serving as flag bearers and many big names in attendance.
Team USA’s boat, carrying the flag carried by LeBron James, floats down the Seine River in Paris, France, during the opening ceremony of the 2024 Summer Olympics, Friday, July 26, 2024. (AP Photo/Lindsay Wasson)
Coco Gauff and LeBron James of the United States pose for a photograph as they walk along the Seine River in Paris, France, during the opening ceremony of the 2024 Summer Olympics, Friday, July 26, 2024. (AP Photo/Ashley Landis, Pool)
As the surfing competition will be held in Tahiti, the 48 competitors were introduced individually as a group with their surfboards.
At the end of the parade, the Eiffel Tower was lit up with twinkling lights in a spectacular light show, the Olympic rings shone brightly, the Olympic flag was raised and the Paris 2024 Summer Olympics was officially opened by an announcement by French President Emmanuel Macron.
The torch floats down the Seine
A major part of the opening ceremony was the march of the Olympic torch through the city, alongside the Parade of Nations. French soccer player Zinedine Zidane, unidentified Parisian children, and several masked torchbearers carried the torch through Paris’ famous sites, including the catacombs, rooftops, and Paris’ fashion department stores.
As the torch progressed through the Opera House, performers sang “Can You Hear the People Sing?” from Les Miserables in French. Also of note was the hard metal song “Ales, Therefore” and Georges Bizet’s opera “Ais le Rebel Bird” which were played after the decapitation of Marie Antoinette.
Aerial view of the Seine. Photo credit: Olympic.com
The Eiffel Tower decorated with the Olympic rings and performances. Photo credit: Olympic.com
The torch was then passed through the Louvre, causing paintings and statues to come to life, and shattered glass was laid on the floor to recreate the theft of the Mona Lisa from the Louvre.
At the Musée d’Orsay, the torch passed through a black-and-white scene highlighting the ingenuity of French filmmaking, with a number of French titles shown, including “Man in the Moon,” “The Little Prince” and “Statue of Liberty.”
As the torch neared its final destination, an iron horse carrying the Olympic flag, a symbol of the Olympic spirit, galloped down the Seine before a knight in shining armour carried the flag to the Trocadero.
The Olympic flame was then handed over to Spanish soccer player Rafael Nadal, who rode on a barge with a number of other famous athletes, including Serena Williams, which was unique as most countries do not allow athletes from other countries to take part in the flame lighting ceremony.
The Olympic flame was then handed over to Parisian famous athletes before being lit in the center of the Tuileries Gardens, and the Olympic cauldron took the form of a hot air balloon and floated into the Parisian sky.
Music Performance
Throughout the Parade of Nations, the opening ceremony featured a number of musical performances, including Lady Gaga performing her “Mon truc en plumes” number while several dancers clad in pink and white feathers danced around her in a cabaret style.
Pink-clad Moulin Rouge dancers performed the cancan on the banks of the Seine, before performers dressed as construction workers suspended from scaffolding showcased French craftsmanship in a scene depicting the construction site of Notre Dame Cathedral, before moving to a fashion design studio and ironworkers creating medals.
This photo released by the Olympic Broadcasting Service shows Canadian singer Celine Dion performing at the Eiffel Tower during the opening ceremony of the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris, France, Friday, July 26, 2024. (Olympic Broadcasting Service via Associated Press)
Lady Gaga performs ahead of the opening ceremony of the 2024 Summer Olympics, Friday, July 26, 2024, in Paris, France. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung)
The Republican Guard orchestra played music near the Concorde Guard with a fire lit, and famous French artist Aya Nakamura sang with them, dressed all in gold. These dances represented the equality part of the French motto.
The French national anthem, “Le Marseillaise”, was sung by mezzo-soprano Axelle Saint-Cyril at the top of the Grand Palais.
In the middle of the Seine, Renaissance-style decorated breakdance and BMX dancers took to the streets to compete, followed by Parisian rapper Rim’K with a fashion show on the Pont de la Concorde, followed by Sofiane Pamaat playing a flaming piano and singer Juliette Armanet singing John Lennon’s “Imagine.”
Céline Dion closed the night by singing Edith Piaf’s “Hymne a l’amour” beneath the Eiffel Tower’s Olympic symbol, her voice reverberating across Paris. It was Dion’s first stage performance since 2020, after battling stiff neck syndrome, and a memorable end to the evening.
This photo provided by the Olympic Broadcasting Service shows the Eiffel Tower (center left) and Trocadero (center) in Paris, France, during the opening ceremony of the 2024 Summer Olympics, Friday, July 26, 2024. (Olympic Broadcasting Service via Associated Press)
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