the unique style of the grand opening of PARIS OLYMPICS

After nearly four hours, French judo great Teddy Riner and sprinter Marie-Jose Perec lit a hot air balloon-shaped cauldron that rose high in Paris. The “greatest show on Earth” has moved from a stadium to a river fan’s heartbreaking comeback.

The evening downpour rain foiled creative director Thomas Jolly’s plan to “make the water sparkle” with the Parisian sun. Arsonists assaulted the French train network, disrupting the day.

Over 2,000 singers, dancers, and other artists conveyed a lively story of French history, art, and sport despite the severe rain that forced participants to wear rain ponchos and umbrellas.

Other barges carried many delegations, but the last two paraded with the most athletes. The U.S. and French boats paraded. Los Angeles will host the 2028 Summer Olympics.

Great Britain’s rowers Helen Glover and diver Tom Daley represented the country at the Summer Olympics in Paris for the third time and the first time in 100,000 years.

As he started the 33rd Summer Olympics, IOC president Thomas Bach said participants were “part of an event that unites the world in peace.” The Olympics are held against a difficult international and domestic political environment.

Over 12,500 athletes will compete in 32 sports at the Games, which end on August 11.

When the organizers announced their plan to hold the opening ceremony along the river in the city instead than in a stadium, there were concerns about how they would manage such a large security operation.

The practicalities of transporting thousands of athletes along a six-kilometer stretch of the Seine without a dress rehearsal seemed daunting. The river’s water quality had been tested.

A security operation involving tens of thousands of police officers helped Paris execute its plan on Friday evening.

It was strange when Lady Gaga sang in French surrounded by pink and black feathers and athletes from Bangladesh were welcomed on their boat.

It was sometimes joyfully frenzied, sometimes mournful.

Given Paris’s terrible weather, it was fitting that the event’s opening premise was about the Olympic torch’s arrival going awry. Because it had been sunny until then.

Zinedine Zidane’s metro train broke down when he was carrying the torch, thus the torchbearer did not realize it was not at the Stade de France. This happened during torch transmission.

The flotilla performed ballet, cancan, opera, iconic artwork, and Minions. A masked torchbearer ran across rooftops and zip-lined throughout the flotilla’s trip from Austerlitz Bridge to Pont d’Iena.

Twelve innovative pieces were played to boats carrying athletes waving flags as they passed the Eiffel Tower, Grand Palais, Louvre museum, and Arc de Triomphe.

Notre Dame’s 2019 fire reconstruction was part of the program. The performance featured a large number of dancers and music produced from cathedral rebuilding noises.

In another performance, Gojira performed with a choir of headless Marie Antoinettes and costumed vocalists singing Les Miserables. The show covered French history.

French-Malian R&B diva Aya Nakamura, the most streamed French-language musician, performed.

Zidane returned the flame, which had traveled with a masked torchbearer and a mechanical horse. It went to Rafael Nadal, Nadia Comaneci, Serena Williams, and Carl Lewis. The celebration ended in the Trocadero with the Eiffel Tower lit up.

Four people took the flame to the Louvre on a boat. After arriving, several French sportsmen and para-athletes, including Charles Coste, a 100-year-old cyclist who had won a gold medal, carried it and gave it to Riner and Perec.

The newlyweds lit a thirty-meter hot air balloon that now floats over the city, making the event even more enticing.

Dion’s emotional performance of Edith Piaf’s L’Hymne a l’amour, her first since revealing a terrible neurological ailment in December 2022, captivated the Eiffel Tower crowd. One more great moment remained.

If the world is “torn apart by wars,” cry for peace.
Since the 2022 Beijing Olympics, Gaza and Ukraine have been at war.

IOC president Bach told the participants 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”.

Paris was in darkness when John Lennon and Yoko Ono’s “Imagine” began earlier in the event. Juliette Armanet sang it aboard a drifting raft.

The Olympic Games’ ethos of tolerance and unity is reflected in the peace anthem played at the opening ceremonies.

Due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Russians and Belarusians cannot attend this Olympics. This is one way conflicts affect the Olympics. Only 15 Russians and 17 Belarusians will compete as Individual Neutral Athletes in the Paris opening ceremony. The festivities’ parade excluded these sportsmen.

Palestine Olympic Committee and Refugee Olympic Team competitors received the most enthusiastic cheers throughout the evening.

Over 100 heads of state and government attended, including Sir Keir Starmer, the UK Prime Minister, and Emmanuel Macron, the French President.

Apologies and mistakes
Olympic officials apologized after South Korean participants were misidentified as North Koreans.

French and English announcers called them the “Democratic People’s Republic of Korea”. This is North Korea’s official name.

Since World War Two, the two Koreas have been entirely separated, and tensions have recently increased.

The Olympic flag was raised inverted throughout part of the ceremony, adding to the embarrassment.

Images showed that the five colored rings of the emblem were misaligned and elevated.

On Saturday, what happens?
This Saturday, thirteen gold medals can be won, with the mixed team air rifle shooting sport likely to provide the first. BBC coverage of the first day begins at 6:30 a.m. British Summer Time.

Great Britain’s best chance of winning a medal on the first day of competition may be in the diving competition, where Yasmin Harper and Scarlett Mew Jensen will compete in the women’s 3m synchro at 10:00 BST, or the road cycling time trials, which start at 13:30 and 15:34 BST, respectively.

There will also be a first look at swimmer Adam Peaty in the 100-meter breaststroke heats (beginning at 10:00 British Summer Time), Max Whitlock and the rest of Great Britain’s men’s gymnasts in qualification (beginning at 10:00 BST), and the men’s rugby sevens competition, where French fans will hope Antoine Dupont can inspire the hosts to win the gold medal (the final is at 18:45).

The first day of competition has four pool swimming finals. The women’s 400-meter freestyle at 19:55 British Summer Time is the most anticipated event. American icon Katie Ledecky, Australian reigning champion Ariarne Titmus, and Canadian world record holder Summer McIntosh are expected to finish first.

Versailles hosts the Games (at 8:30 BST) after Charlotte Dujardin’s resignation and preliminary ban for “excessively” flogging a horse. Great Britain will defend their team title days after Dujardin’s withdrawal from the Games shook the equestrian world.

Novak Djokovic and Carlos Alcaraz and Rafael Nadal begin the Roland Garros tennis tournament. The British men’s hockey squad will also play Spain.

Paris’ rainy weather has pushed the men’s street skateboarding competition from Saturday to Monday.