Paris puts on a show for Olympic Opening Ceremony

Let the Paris 2024 Olympic Games begin!

On Friday, the Paris 2024 Olympic Games were officially opened with the Opening Ceremony along the River Seine.

The animating force, the raison d’être of the Paris 2024 Games is: “Games Wide Open.” A fitting touchstone for the first summer Games in eight years without the shadow of intense COVID-19 protocols, and with a determination to do things differently. As such, Paris was ready to put on a show for the world celebrating freedom, and organizers thought outside the box when it came to the Opening Ceremony. 

For the first time ever, the Opening Ceremony did not take place within a stadium, but rather along the River Seine. As a result, the Ceremony featured unprecedented accessibility for the public, with over 320,000 spectators expected to come out to watch the show and cheer on the approximately 6,800 participating in the parade. 

Athletes from 205 delegations floated down the river in 85 boats, starting with Greece, who retains the honour of proceeding first as the birthplace of the Olympic Games. They were followed by the Olympic Refugee Team, flying under the Olympic flag. After that, nations proceeded down the river in alphabetical order, according to the French spelling of the country.

Along the six kilometre voyage, there were 12 “artistic tableaux” involving approximately 2000 French performers. The tableaux took athletes and spectators on a journey of values and ideas, including: enchanté, synchronicity, liberty, equality, fraternity, sisterhood, sportsmanship, festivity, darkness, solemnity, solidarity, and eternity.

The journey also took athletes past many of Paris’ most iconic landmarks and historic architecture, many of which have been converted to venues for the Games, including the Eiffel Tower, the Esplanade des Invalides, and the Grand Palais.

The Olympic flame also took a journey through French culture to arrive for the big moment of the cauldron lighting. A masked torchbearer based on a number of masked characters who have left their mark on French culture, such as the Phantom of the Opera and Ezio from Assassin’s Creed, flipped and jumped over Paris rooftops, ziplined over the Seine, and wandered through the Louvre, where figures of the worlds’ most famous paintings had left their frames to watch from the windows.

References to French literature, music, architecture and history abounded throughout the performances, with some highlights including performers suspended from the scaffolding surrounding the reconstruction of Notre Dame, a performance by rock band Gojira alongside a headless Marie Antoinette. And would it be France without a fashion show?

READ: What athletes from around the world will wear for the Opening Ceremony of Paris 2024

Some performers had less obvious connections to France, but widespread appeal, like pop star Lady Gaga, who gave a cabaret performance in French. As has become a tradition over the last few Olympic Games, John Lennon’s “Imagine” was performed, this time by French artist Juliette Armanet.

Canada cruised along the Seine as an instantly recognizable collective in head-to-toe red. With many nations struggling with how to protect their athletes from the pouring rain through the ceremony, Team Canada’s lululemon kit luckily included a rain poncho! And no amount of rain could dampen the joy of the Opening Ceremony.

Team Canada’s delegation was led by flag bearers Andre De Grasse and Maude Charron, both of whom are reigning Olympic champions in athletics and weightlifting, respectively. Team Canada shared a boat with China, Cameroon, Chile, and Central African Republic (we’re talking about big boats)!

READ: De Grasse and Charron to be Team Canada’s Opening Ceremony flag bearers for Paris 2024

Team USA and Team Australia were penultimate in the parade of nations as the upcoming hosts of the Olympic Summer Games, with LA 2028 and Brisbane 2032 coming up next. Host nation France closed out the parade with their staggering 609 athlete delegation.

More entertainment awaited Team Canada athletes when they arrived at the Trocadero. But meanwhile, Team Canada’s first breaking Olympian, Phil Wizard, provided some for his Canadian teammates as he showed off a few moves in front of the Eiffel Tower.

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Paris 2024 spared nothing when it came to the theatrics. As all the athletes found their way back to dry (wet) land, a silver robot horse carrying a woman rider wearing the Olympic flag as a cape glided over the water, only to turn into a real horse and rider on land, ceremoniously delivering the flag to be raised for the opening of the Games.

The masked torch bearer headed the torch off to the legendary French soccer player Zinedine Zidane, who then handed it off to Spanish tennis player Rafael Nadal, who took the torch as the Eiffel Tower began a light show. Meanwhile Nadal boarded a boat and rode along the Seine with the flame, where he handed the torch to American tennis player Serena Williams, who handed it to Romanian gymnast Nadia Comaneci and then American sprinter Carl Lewis. The final stages of the torch relay showcased international cooperation and friendship amongst various legends of sport.

The boat finally pulled up to a dock near the Louvre where the torch was passed to along by an ever-increasing number of notable French athletes. Marie-José Pérec and Teddy Riner finally lit the cauldron in the Jardin des Tuileries. The cauldron took flight in a balloon-like structure.

And then FINALLY the moment that all Canadians were hoping for after rumours were swirling for weeks…Celine Dion serenaded the world from a stage on the Eiffel Tower, closing the Opening Ceremony with a beautiful connection to Canada. The Canadian singer was visibly overcome with emotion.

Paris lived up to its name as the City of Light, literally and figuratively sparkling in front of the world’s eyes. And now, we wait to watch Team Canada’s 337 athletes shine in the competition to come from now until August 11.