The Olympic Games have been officially opened after a spectacular opening ceremony on the River Seine.
Thousands lined the banks in the French capital to watch an unprecedented, unique event to begin Paris 2024 ahead of the first medal events tomorrow. Organisers abandoned the traditional stadium format to instead showcase the sights and sounds of the city, with athletes paraded along the waterway in an impressive display.
Heavy rain fell on a wet evening after a day of travel chaos in Paris that saw thousands of visitors delayed.
The country’s rail operator said that arson attacks on key rail lines into the French capital had “sabotaged” the network, leading to disruption across the country.
Jean-Pierre Farandou, chief executive of SNCF, said the plans of thousands who had hoped to go to Paris had been ruined.
The “coordinated” disruption is likely to cause delays over the weekend for 800,000 passengers, with up to 250,000 affected as the Games officially starts.
But the deluge and disruption did not dampen sprits in the city, though, as President Macron declared the Olympics officially underway underneath the Eiffel Tower.
Follow the live blog below for the latest updates and news ahead of Paris 2024
Paris Olympics latest news and updates
- Opening ceremony underway along the River Seine in Paris, live on BBC One
- Weather warning issued ahead of opening ceremony as rain threatens ‘disaster’
- France ‘under attack’ after rail disruption as up to 800,000 passengers face delays
- Consequences will be ‘massive and serious’ French PM says after five incidents of damage to train network
- Tom Daley and Helen Glover fly Team GB flag as heavy rain hits Paris
- Lady Gaga performs as Zinedine Zidane begins torch’s journey down the Seine
- What to watch on Day 1 of the Olympics
Paris Olympics opening ceremony
21:59
Harry Latham-Coyle
Zinedine Zidane re-takes the Olympic torch from the masked torchbearer, handing it over to Rafael Nadal, his place as the undisputed king of the Paris clay at Roland Garros earning the Spaniard involvement.
Paris Olympics opening ceremony
21:58
Jack Rathborn
Paris Olympics opening ceremony
21:54
Harry Latham-Coyle
Thomas Bach: “In a world torn apart by wars and conflict, it is thanks to solidarity that we can all come together tonight. We unite the athletes from all 206 national Olympic committees and the Refugee Olympic Team. Welcome the best athletes in the world, welcome Olympians. Long live the Olympic Games, and long live France.”
And with that, French president Emmanuel Macron declares the Olympic Games open!
Tomorrow at the Olympics: Saturday’s full schedule for Day 1 and first medal events at Paris 2024
21:49
Harry Latham-Coyle
Saturday brings the first full day of Olympics competition, with a huge programme of events set to take place across Paris.
Here’s a look at the full schedule tomorrow:
Paris Olympics opening ceremony
21:46
Harry Latham-Coyle
“Welcome to Paris, welcome to your moment in history,” Tony Estanguet continues. “Live it, love it and carry it with you. The world is on your side. A special word for the Tricolor, the French team. 68 million French people will get behind you. A whole country will hold its breath when you take your place on the start line. If you cry with joy, the whole of France will cry with you.”
Paris Olympics opening ceremony
21:41
Harry Latham-Coyle
Tony Estanguet, president of the Paris 2024 organising committee, and Thomas Bach, president of the International Olympic Committee, have a couple of volunteers on hand with umbrellas as they play the hits with the traditional platitudes and pleas of the opening ceremony speeches.
“Welcome to Paris,” Estanguet says. “It is a huge honour to welcome you here, 100 years after we last hosted the Summer Games. There is a big love story between France and the Olympics. To love the Games is to court the Games for 100 years for the chance to bring them back to Paris.
“Thank you for giving France this unique opportunity and always being on our side. This evening, we can all be proud of what we have already achieved together. I’d like to thank the athletes. Even if the Games cannot solve every problem, and conflicts are not just going to disappear, tonight you have reminded us how beautiful humanity is when we come together.”
Paris Olympics opening ceremony
21:35
Jack Rathborn
Paris Olympics opening ceremony
21:35
Harry Latham-Coyle
The Radio France Choir deliver the Olympic anthem as the flag is raised, the ceremony finally having settled in the Trocadero.
21:31
Harry Latham-Coyle
Paris Olympics opening ceremony
21:29
Harry Latham-Coyle
The rain has, thankfully, relented, making a potentially precarious prance up some steps rather more straightforward for the rider, climbing off the horse to take the stairs. The woman clad in armour is Floriane Issert, a Gendarmerie non- commissioned officer, I am reliably informed.
Paris Olympics opening ceremony
21:27
Harry Latham-Coyle
Magic! The horse and rider have come to life thanks to a totally seamless smash cut! Faultless.
Anyway, a beautifuly white horse trots down the Trocadero, the world flags massing around the Olympic flag as it leads the way.
Paris Olympics opening ceremony
21:26
Harry Latham-Coyle
The Eiffel Tower does look magnificent, lit up in the Paris night with the Olympic rings in its midriff. Still the horsewoman gallops, though at a pace to surely leave her out of the medal running.
Paris Olympics opening ceremony
21:22
Harry Latham-Coyle
The animatronic equine makes graceful progress along the water, the Olympic rings draped on the rider’s back.
Aha - we’ve finally made it to the Eiffel Tower and the Trocadero. This looks a bit more traditional, the flags of the competing nations being brought out as clips from past Games play. A needed dose of normality, quite frankly.
Paris Olympics opening ceremony
21:16
Harry Latham-Coyle
That singing of Imagine is followed by a call for peace and solidarity, represented by a horsewoman galloping along the surface of the Seine. It’s avant garde, I’ll give them that.
From the official pamplet on this tableau: “The representation of the Olympic spirit and of Sequana, goddess of the river and symbol of resistance, she draws us into her wake and invites the whole world to unite around the values of Olympism.”
Paris Olympics opening ceremony
21:09
Jamie Braidwood
Good news folks we still have more than an hour to go, and up next in the performance of the opening ceremony is darkness:
“Night has fallen over Paris. Caught up in the turmoil of the evils afflicting the world, these young people ‘dance on a volcano’ at the opening of a sequence that sounds like a metaphorical parenthesis. The peace anthem, Imagine by John Lennon and Yoko Ono resounds through the Parisian night, like a call for reconciliation and harmony sent out to the world around the values of unity and tolerance conveyed by the Olympic Games and sport.
“To give life to this anthem which is part of the protocol, Thomas Jolly has chosen to work with two French artists, Sofiane Pamart and Juliette Armanet. The set design, which depicts a raft adrift, and the costumes by Clara Daguin invite us to reflect on a world between darkness and light.”
Paris Olympics opening ceremony
21:07
Harry Latham-Coyle
Through the Eurodance classics we cycle like a DJ at a not particularly adventurous discotheque. The “playful but lucid” performance proves to be a scantily-clad, blue-painted Philippe Katerine, the quirky French singer-songwriter supposedly embodying the spirt of Dionysus. Not really getting that, to be completely honest - more Papa Smurf, I’d suggest.
Paris Olympics opening ceremony
20:59
Jamie Braidwood
Back to the performances.
“This eighth tableau concludes the parade: the last delegations are presented, followed by ‘France’ a boat whose arrival marks the start of the festivities.
“The festivities are in full swing with a banquet showcasing French fashion and young creation, as well as a variety of cultures and dances from around the world. The Games are finally here, and we're having fun and dancing in the biggest club in France, carried away by Barbara Butch. With this evocation of French youth, as well as that of the whole of Europe, Thomas Jolly reminds us that ‘our diversity and our uniqueness are our strengths in uniting.
“But celebrating doesn't stop us from remaining aware of the issuesfacing our planet.’ The playful but lucid final performance serves as a reminder”.
Paris Olympics opening ceremony
20:54
Harry Latham-Coyle
And finally, as is tradition, the hosts, France having bagged the biggest boat for themselves. Could this be a golden Games for the host nation? They’ve got stars in swimming, sevens, basketball and pretty much everywhere else. Discus thrower Mélina Robert-Michon and swimmer Florent Manaudou are their flagbearers.
Paris Olympics opening ceremony
20:52
Harry Latham-Coyle
Look out Paris - the United States are here. It’s a mighty schooner provided to the American team, who have piled on. LeBron James and Coco Gauff throw the Star Spangled Banner left and right.
Paris Olympics opening ceremony
20:49
Harry Latham-Coyle
Zambia’s contingent at this Games is relatively large compared to their international sporting reputation, though their party on the boat is rather limited by the absence of the Copper Queens, their women’s footballers otherwise engaged in pool play.
Australia are afforded the third slot from last as the hosts of the Summer Olympics after next.
Paris Olympics opening ceremony
20:48
Harry Latham-Coyle
Tuvalu, the least populous nation at these Olympics, soak up the atmosphere (and the precipitation) as Ukraine get a great reception behind them.
Paris Olympics opening ceremony
20:44
Harry Latham-Coyle
The tautological charms of Timor-Leste, translating to “East East”, on a boat alogside Togo and Tonga. No Pita Taufatofua this time for the Pacific Island nation, though I suspect he’d have kept his shirt on had he made it with conditions in Paris properly nasty.
Paris Olympics opening ceremony
20:41
Harry Latham-Coyle
Not the most impressive outfits on show in the Swiss ranks. At least their flag is a big plus.
Tajikistan, Chinese Taipei, Tanzania and Chad are all packed together on the same boat, the two African nations with limited representation at these Games.
Paris Olympics opening ceremony
20:36
Harry Latham-Coyle
As we hastily progress towards the end of the alphabet, an array of catwalk models have been putting on a brave face as they try and go about vogue-ing in what can only be described as biblical rain on the Debilly Footbridge. It is, officially, not nice in Paris.
Paris Olympics opening ceremony
20:32
Harry Latham-Coyle
Romania have a husband and wife pair as their flagbearers, Marius and Ionela Cozmiuc both world champions but seeking a first Olympic gold in rowing. Marius won coxless pair silver in Tokyo.
Now, we would normally expect to find Russia at this point. Here’s why they, and Belarus, aren’t part of the opening ceremony:
Paris Olympics opening ceremony
20:29
Harry Latham-Coyle
The Netherlands are out of place in the Ps, Pays-Bas in French leaving them parting Paraguay and Peru. King Willem-Alexander has a little jig up in the posh seats to the delight of his compatriots on the boat below.
Paris Olympics opening ceremony
20:28
Jamie Braidwood
Meanwhile, in Tahiti... the Olympics opening ceremony is underway in rather different weather!
We all want to be in Tahiti don’t we. You can find out why part of the Olympics is taking place 10,000 miles from the host city, here.
Lady Gaga: Performance at Olympics opening ceremony was ‘supreme honour’
20:26
Harry Latham-Coyle
American singer Lady Gaga has said it was her “supreme honour” to perform at the Paris Olympics opening ceremony.
The 38-year-old surprised viewers by singing in French during her performance on Friday evening, which saw her deliver a burlesque take on the French classic Mon Truc En Plume.
On X, formerly Twitter, she said: “I feel so completely grateful to have been asked to open the Paris @Olympics 2024 this year.
“I am also humbled to be asked by the Olympics organising committee to sing such a special French song—a song to honour the French people and their tremendous history of art, music, and theatre.
Paris Olympics opening ceremony
20:20
Harry Latham-Coyle
Nigeria, New Zealand and Norway complete the N nations. Speaking of Norway, have you listened to the Ingebrigtsen brothers’ pre-Olympics hype song? The first family of Norwegian athletics have talent away from the track, too...
Paris Olympics opening ceremony
20:17
Harry Latham-Coyle
Mongolia’s representatives are clad in traditional dress - 20 hours it took to embroider their frocks. An impressive effort for what ultimately amounts to about ten seconds of screen time.
Mozambique also have fresh threads, jackets forged from the colours of their flags.
Paris Olympics opening ceremony - What is happening?
20:16
Jamie Braidwood
Sisterhood
“This sequence features the flag and National Anthem of France. Original staging gives this ceremonial moment added drama. Performed by Axelle Saint-Cirel, the Choeur and the Maîtrise de Radio France The Marseillaise is re-orchestrated for the occasion by Victor le Masne, composer and Music Director of the Ceremonies.
“It resounds with power and emotion in the skies over Paris. ‘The French National Anthem becomes a symbol of unification and a call to pay tribute to the women of France's history, represented by 10 golden statues emerging from the Seine’ says Thomas Jolly.”
Sportsmanship
“The journey through France's history continues in this next sequence, showcasing its relationship with modern sports. The delegations pass between floating platforms resembling French formal gardens, where a live show celebrates urban sports, some of which are a special feature of the programme of the Paris 2024 Games.
“Thomas Jolly offers us an experience designed to enrich our imaginations and help us reappropriate immutable figures of France through disciplines that are rooted in their times. In his desire to share the splendour of Versailles with everyone and to combine historical classicism with urban modernity, Thomas Jolly decided to invite Jakub Józef Orliński, who is both a breaker and an opera singer.”
Paris Olympics opening ceremony
20:12
Harry Latham-Coyle
Malawi and the Maldives have eight athletes between them, but get a plum place behind the Malaysian contingent on one of the mid-sized watercrafts.
Morocco are on the next vessel, their men’s football team having upset Argentina after that extraordinary finish on Wednesday.
Who is the masked torchbearer causing chaos at the Olympics opening ceremony?
20:08
Jamie Braidwood
A masked torchbearer repeatedly popped up during the Olympics opening ceremony, running across rooftops in Paris as heavy rain fell on the boat parade on the River Seine.
The mysterious figure, wearing a black cloak, white hood, and with their face covered by a dark fencing mask, was heavily featured in the three-hour ceremony produced by director Thomas Jolly, and which included appearances from Lady Gaga, Zinedine Zidane and, for some reason, The Minions.
The spectacle saw 85 boats carry almost 7,000 athletes from 205 countries down the River Seine, which came just hours after a sabotage attack on the high-speed rail networks caused travel chaos across France.
Paris Olympics opening ceremony
20:06
Harry Latham-Coyle
We are properly rattling through now: Laos, Lesotho, Latvia, Lebanon, Liberia, Libya. Liechtenstein’s Romano Puentener waves the flag enthusiastically - he’ll go in the men’s mountain bike cross country against Tom Pidcock and co. next week.
Paris Olympics opening ceremony
20:04
Harry Latham-Coyle
There is unsurprisingly an athlete carrying Kenya’s flag, though Ferdinand Omanyala excels over 100 metres rather than the longer distances in which the east African nation normally dominates. Volleyball player Trizah Atuka is his company grasping the flagpole.
Paris Olympics opening ceremony
19:57
Harry Latham-Coyle
Mezzo-soprano Axelle Saint-Cirel provides an enchanting rendition of La Marseillaise, celebrating the contribution of women in the tableau entitled: Sisterhood.
Famous French female figures are cast in gold, riding up out of their podiums as a rather more haunting version of the national anthem plays.
Paris Olympics opening ceremony
19:54
Harry Latham-Coyle
A dive into the Musée d’Orsay is an excuse to look at some of France’s best cultural contributions, and Despicable Me‘s minions. It is, inexplicably, the little yellow cartoons that get an extended look.
Out of the minions video we transition into the Mona Lisa. Two remarkable bits of art presented together - It’s what Da Vinci would have wanted.
Team GB arrive in rain-soaked Paris for 2024 Olympic Games
19:50
Harry Latham-Coyle
Paris Olympics opening ceremony
19:50
Harry Latham-Coyle
Ireland have their biggest contingent ever at an Olympics, 100 years on from their first - golfer Shane Lowry and hurdler Sarah Lavin carry their flag.
Italy and Jamaica are side by side, each enjoying the Paris party in their own way.
Paris Olympics opening ceremony
19:47
Harry Latham-Coyle
Out come India, the second largest country in the world but not one with a noted Olympic record. Could that be about to change, though?
Paris Olympics opening ceremony
19:45
Harry Latham-Coyle
Through the Guineas we go, -Bissau and Equatorial following the Naby Keita and Fatoumata Sylla-led crew.
Paris Olympics opening ceremony
19:41
Harry Latham-Coyle
Here come Team GB, the 327 athletes fielded by Great Britain in Paris represented by a good group. Tom Daley and Helen Glover, both Olympic veterans inspired back for one more ride by their children, carry their flag.
Paris Olympics opening ceremony
19:36
Harry Latham-Coyle
Biniam Girmay, fresh from his Tour de France heroics, is one of the Eritrean flagbearers. It’s also been an excellent summer of sport for Spain with a Euro 2024 triumph and Carlos Alcaraz’s exploits on the court - can a few of their Olympians continue the winning run?
Paris Olympics opening ceremony
19:34
Harry Latham-Coyle
Djibouti deserve some kudos for having prepped a routine of sorts, lifting their flags above their heads in unison before dropping them down again. The synchronicity soon goes, but a lovely thought.
It’s properly miserable - Jack Rathborn, our man in Paris, has abandoned the open area and is heading for the safe embrace of the media room. “It’s as heavy as it has been,” he bravely reports as he goes in search of a towel and a hairdryer.
Paris Olympics opening ceremony
19:31
Harry Latham-Coyle
That shouldn’t overly concern the two coasts: Costa Rica and Cote d’Ivoire both get strong receptions, the latter nation particularly so.
Paris Olympics opening ceremony
19:30
Harry Latham-Coyle
Right, onwards we go with the parade of nations, Cyprus and Comoros providing island bookends to the Colombian squad in the middle of their barge.
The Republic of Congo have only four athletes at the Games, and all seem to have made it to the opening ceremony, crowding on to a small boat as the two-stroke motor churns behind them. It is absolutely thumping it down now, drenching the Cook Islands’ two athletes (athlete Alex Beddoes; swimmer Lanihei Connolly).
Headless Marie Antoinettes line banks of Seine during Paris Olympics opening ceremony
19:28
Harry Latham-Coyle
Paris Olympics opening ceremony
19:27
Harry Latham-Coyle
And here is the modern day master of chanson francaise, Aya Nakamura the most listened to French-language artist in the world. Born in Mali, raised in the Paris suburbs, there has been a bit of noise around Nakamura’s participation in this opening ceremony among the French far right, but she really puts on a show, re-interpreting Aznavour’s music beautifully.
Paris Olympics opening ceremony
19:23
Harry Latham-Coyle
A spot of Charles Aznavour, now, as the organisers work through their French musical icons. Formidable!
Paris Olympics opening ceremony
19:21
Harry Latham-Coyle
On to liberte, the third tableau, with a rocking rendition of revolutionary song Ah, ça ira delivered by Gojira before Marina Viotti delightfully delivers L'amour est un oiseau rebelle from Bizet’s Carmen. It all does look rather damp.
Paris Olympics opening ceremony: Liberty
19:18
Jamie Braidwood
“The people remain at the heart of this sequence, which highlights their thirst for liberty. We first plunge into the rebellious Paris of Les Misérables and the French Revolution. The liberation of the people is followed by the liberation of the body and of love, with a choreography by Rachid Ouramdane and Compagny XY on the mythical Pont-Neuf Bridge, redrawing the contours of a city imbued with romance, mystery and desire, enhanced by the costumes of Charles de Vilmorin.
“For this tableau, Thomas Jolly has chosen Marina Viotti, an exceptional singer who, with her ability to switch from heavy metal to opera, acts as a bridge between two revolutions. Political and personal emancipation intersect and respond to each other in this daring sequence,which reminds us that ‘the freedom to love is no less sacred than the freedom to think’ (Victor Hugo).”
Paris Olympics opening ceremony
19:17
Harry Latham-Coyle
Paris Olympics opening ceremony
19:14
Harry Latham-Coyle
The brollies are up on the banks as the famous Notre Dame bells sound, thankfull having survived that ghastly fire in 2019. When I was in Paris last year, they were hard at work trying to get the old cathedral restored to something resembling former glories, and they really have done a great job
Paris Olympics opening ceremony
19:12
Harry Latham-Coyle
On to the second of the night’s tableaux, entitled synchronicite. 500 dancers are on hand around the Pont Neuf for what the organisers hope will put French craftspeople in the limelight: sculptors, carpenters, joiners, etc.
“The whole of Paris is synchronising to welcome the Games,” they say. “In this tableau, Thomas Jolly highlights the know-how of French craftsmanship in a choregraphy by Maud Le Pladec and an original score by Victor le Masne composed using the sounds of the workers. This golden interlude pays tribute to the prestige of the host city and to the people of Paris, who are in sync.”
Paris Olympics opening ceremony
19:06
Harry Latham-Coyle
The can-can gets a techno remix as some dancers from the Moulin Rouge make the best of the conditions. There have been 200 rehearsal days for the opening ceremony, though not an official run-through en masse, with a few clunks apparent so far, as might be expected with such a large-scale event.
Paris Olympics opening ceremony
19:03
Harry Latham-Coyle
A loud cry of “Cambodia” as the Asian nation make their way along the River Seine. There are plenty of Cambodians still in Paris after fleeing the Khmer Rouge in the 1970s.
Canada provide the biggest contingent at the front of the next boat, another country with real links to France, of course.
China’s athletes cloak the stern in red. Will they overhaul the United States at the top of the medal table?
Paris Olympics opening ceremony
19:00
Jamie Braidwood
The hoods and umbrellas are back up at the Place de Trocadero. You can prepare the most elaborate ceremony in the world, but you can’t control the weather can you.
Paris Olympics opening ceremony
18:59
Harry Latham-Coyle
Brazil look to be sporting jean jackets and Breton stripes, having done their homework on the fashion du jour. Rugby player Raquel Kochhann is their female flag bearer, who has made this Olympics despite undergoing treatment for breast cancer earlier this year. One of the many remarkable stories on show across this Games.
Olympics 2024: Lady Gaga kicks off performances with nod to French culture
18:57
Jamie Braidwood in Paris
Lady Gaga appeared in the Place Barye to launch the artistic part of the Opening Ceremony with a nod to the tradition of French music hall. From a majestic staircase resembling that of the nave of the Grand Palais, Lady Gaga reinterpreted the classic “Mon truc en plume” by Zizi Jeanmaire, an icon of French revue.
Chosen for her unique talent, multifaceted performances and love of Parisian culture, Lady Gaga’s performance highlighted the ongoing influence of French culture on the world, and the bond between two icons of two different eras. With her personal touch, Lady Gaga showed how the world has drawn on French culture to reinvent and augment it.
Paris Olympics opening ceremony
18:56
Harry Latham-Coyle
Bhutan’s dragon waves, a favourite flag blowing proudly in the breeze. I’m not sure that the Himalayan nation merited a boat of their own, but they do at least have some shelter to huddle under with the rain just beginning to fall again. They’ll be up late watching in the Thimphu monasteries I’m sure.
Paris Olympics opening ceremony
18:55
Harry Latham-Coyle
Warm applause as Gaga go-gos after a lively extended number. Back to the athletes, and Bangladesh have lucked out with what looks like a lovely boat.
Through the Bs we canter, Barbados, Belgium, Belize, Benin and Bermuda providing a fun line-up on the boat behind.
Paris opening ceremony
18:52
Sonia Twigg
The teams have started arriving on their boats in an opening ceremony unlike any other:
