The rainy, dramatic 2024 Paris Olympics opening ceremony wrapped with a performance by Céline Dion on Friday evening.
The four-hour ceremony went on despite forecasted rain and arson attacks on key rail lines into Paris delaying thousands of visitors. The ceremony featured a parade of boats down the Seine River, a faceless torch-bearer doing parkour on Parisian rooftops and headless Marie Antoinette figurines, receiving mixed reactions from viewers.
“This opening ceremony isn’t getting any better,” one user wrote on X. “An Canadian closing An Paris Olympics #OpeningCeremony too long, too weird, too much river.”
“This is the most WTF opening ceremony I have ever seen,” another viewer wrote on X.
This year’s unique opening ceremony was the first to not happen in a stadium. The athletes arrived on boats that floated down the River Seine instead, with each delegation waving flags and cheering.
As for Team USA,tennis champion Coco Gauff officially became the youngest American flag bearer in the history of the Games. Basketball champion Lebron James joins Gauff in carrying the flag for Team USA.
In addition to being the youngest American flag bearer, Gauff was also the first American tennis player to hold the honor.
Key Points
- Everything we know about France’s Olympic rail chaos
- Snoop Dogg adds sizzle to Paris drizzle by carrying Olympic torch ahead of opening ceremony
- Team USA swimmers reveal one ‘foul’ habit they all do in the pool: ‘That’s just how it goes’
- Simone Biles, Noah Lyles and the many faces of the Paris Olympic Games
- Paris 2024 Olympics schedule and day-by-day events
Paris Olympics Opening Ceremony is a washout
05:58
Namita Singh
Camp, glam and undeniably kitsch, the opening ceremonies are, in a way, so different from the raw machismo and power of the sports themselves.
And yet, as Claire Balding announced at the commencement of the BBC’s coverage of the show, they are “nearly always the most watched part of an Olympic games”.
And Paris’s show – long, winding, and frequently gravely dull – gave that vast audience a new twist, writes Nick Hilton.
Paris embraces its ‘crazy’ idea to deliver Olympics opening ceremony like no other
05:57
Namita Singh
Paris 2024 always knew its idea for the opening ceremony was “crazy” but a relentless downpour on Friday evening ensured a damp start to the Olympics with many bewildered by its format.
Spectators scattered along the Seine, rather than packed into the Stade de France, meant a frustrating viewing experience too. And as Paris 2024 meandered through 12 tableaux of this floating parade, president Emmanuel Macron’s words proved rather prescient.
Clearly craving an idyllic sunset and starlit sky in the City of Light alongside its River Seine backdrop, Paris left many wondering why it swerved from the conventional format.
More in this report from Jack Rathborn:
Olympic flag raised upside down at end of rain-soaked opening ceremony
05:42
Namita Singh
The Olympic flag was raised upside down in an embarrassing moment at the very start of Paris 2024, following a spectacular, rain-soaked opening ceremony on the River Seine.
Images of the Olympic flag appeared to show that the five coloured rings of the iconic emblem were in the wrong positions and had been hoisted incorrectly.
The opening ceremony was a three-and-a-half hour spectacle on the River Seine, which saw 85 boats carry almost 7,000 athletes from 205 countries.
Jamie Braidwood reports from Paris:
Olympics opening ceremony saw no major reported issues, French official says
05:36
Namita Singh
France’s interior minister praised security forces after no major issues were reported Friday during the opening ceremony of the Olympics.
Authorities had deployed a massive security operation in Paris to keep the event safe. The capital’s streets were blocked off, with squadrons of police patrolling and imposing metal-fence security barriers erected like an iron curtain on both sides of the River Seine. Up to 45,000 police and gendarmes as well as 10,000 soldiers have been deployed for Olympic security.
“We did it,” French interior minister Gerald Darmanin said on the social platform X, praising an “event without incident.”
“After four years of intense work to prepare for the world’s biggest sport event, we have never been prouder of our security forces,” he tweeted.
Paris police tweeted “plan A” with a video of river officers watching the sparkling Eiffel Tower, in a reference to previous comments by French president Emmanuel Macron acknowledging plans could be revisited for security reasons if needed.
All Parisian bridges were closed to both vehicles and pedestrians as a vast anti-terrorism perimeter along the banks of the river sealed off a kilometers-long (miles-long) area to those without tickets for the ceremony.
Paris embraces its ‘crazy’ idea to deliver Olympics opening ceremony like no other
05:30
Harry Latham-Coyle
Paris 2024 always knew its idea for the opening ceremony was “crazy” but a relentless downpour on Friday evening ensured a damp start to the Olympics with many bewildered by its format.
Spectators scattered along the Seine, rather than packed into the Stade de France, meant a frustrating viewing experience too. And as Paris 2024 meandered through 12 tableaux of this floating parade, President Emmanuel Macron’s words proved rather prescient.
Clearly craving an idyllic sunset and starlit sky in the City of Light alongside its River Seine backdrop, Paris left many wondering why it swerved from the conventional format.
“It seemed to be a crazy and not very serious idea,” Macron remarked on Monday. “But we decided it was the right moment to deliver this crazy idea and make it real.”
For Ukrainian athletes, joy mixes with sorrow at the Paris Olympics
05:05
Namita Singh
For Ukrainian competitors in Paris for the Olympics, joy goes hand in hand with sorrow. Athletes are striving to enjoy the dream of competing at one of the world’s most prestigious sports events while carrying the burden of the war back home.
“When we read news, we feel very upset,” said Polina Buhrova, a 20-year-old badminton player at her first Games. “But it’s also our power and our possibility to show how strong we are that we are here, that we are going to fight until the end.”
The living accommodations for athletes from around the world are adorned with flags and slogans at the Olympic village. The Ukrainian house features children’s drawings with messages like: “The resilient do not give up and strive for victory” and “Glory to the Ukrainian Armed Forces.” These drawings, a tradition to support Ukrainian soldiers on the frontline, have extended to cheering for their athletes.
“It warms my heart,” said fencer Olga Kharlan, smiling at the drawings. She added, “We want to finish this season successfully because we are doing it for our country.”
Kharlan had a unique route to the Paris Games. She was drawn against Russian fencer Anna Smirnova at last year’s world championships. Smirnova protested after Kharlan refused to shake her hand, and the Ukrainian was disqualified. The International Olympic Committee awarded Kharlan a spot in Paris anyway.
The fencer said preparing for the Games this year was challenging — not just the grueling routine typical for an Olympic athlete but because she had to train abroad due to Russia’s war and had not seen her family in a long time.
But she is determined, saying her showing goes far beyond any sports arena.
“We fight and perform for those who, unfortunately, cannot come here because they were killed by Russia,” she said. “This is dedicated to them and to all our defenders.”
This year, Ukraine will be represented by the smallest number of athletes in its history of participation in the Summer Games, with 140 competitors in 26 sports. The most are in athletics, at 25, while there’s just the one — Buhrova — in badminton. The war deeply and negatively affected Ukraine’s sports industry.
Paris 2024 Olympics opening ceremony in pictures
05:00
Harry Latham-Coyle
The Paris 2024 Olympics began with a groundbreaking – and rain-soaked – opening ceremony, the first to be staged outside a stadium.
Here’s a look at some of the best snaps from a night that ranged from the sublime to the ridiculous.
Drums and dance open Tahiti’s Olympic surfing extravaganza
04:50
Namita Singh
Tahiti welcomed the 2024 Olympic surfing event on Friday with blazing sunshine, songs and Polynesian culture honouring the sport’s ancient roots, a world away from the rain of the Games’ opening ceremony in Paris.
At a beachside park 40km from the surfing venue of Teahupo’o, surfers poured sand from their home beaches into a communal vessel, combining the different colours and textures to symbolise unity and respect for the ocean.
“It was nice, definitely, very different to Paris,” said Ramzi Boukhiam, who is representing Morocco in his second Olympic Games after the sport’s debut in Tokyo.
“We’re like 16,000 km away but we’re in paradise and it was nice to see all the athletes, all the countries.”
Joining the Paris opening would have been fun but was not possible given the distance, he said.
“Of course it would have been nice because you would be there with the whole nation, all Morocco, all the athletes, but the main goal is to win the contest and do that you have to come here early and get ready,” Boukhiam said.
Katie Ledecky: Team USA swimmer seeks more history at Olympics 2024
04:30
Harry Latham-Coyle
Katie Ledecky gets her bid for yet more precious metal for the mantelpiece going on the opening day of swimming action at Paris 2024, with the American eyeing a 400m freestyle shootout with Ariarne Titmus and Summer McIntosh in what could be one of the races of the Games.
Surfing’s Olympic ringmaster Aguerre readies for the next wave
04:27
Namita Singh
Fernando Aguerre says that when he was first elected president of the International Surfing Association in 1994, the organisation consisted of a cardboard box and a cheque.
Thirty years on, the Argentine is now making preparations to pass the torch to a new leader, having built the ISA into a body representing 116 countries and achieving the improbable goal of taking surfing to the Olympics.
“When I got (elected) it was literally a cardboard box like this, with papers and a $5,000 cheque, so I was like, ‘I can’t go wrong, because ... I’m already at ground zero!’” Aguerre told Reuters.
Having sold the footwear company he set up with his brother for a sum reported to be in the region of $100m, Aguerre works pro bono.
“I don’t make money - I’m free, so I’m a good deal,” he laughed when asked about stepping down.
“I pushed for a new bylaw in the constitution that will preclude me from running after 2026, so 2026 will be my last - in the current constitution I won’t be able to run after that.
“Two or three” succession plans are in place but Aguerre hopes to retain some kind of role.
“I think it’s better I take more of a head advisor or, like I like to call myself, head cheerleader,” he added.
“I enjoy sitting down with people like this, kind of passing the spiritual and cultural torch of the sport.
“So I might make it to (the) Brisbane (Olympics), maybe. Maybe the sharks will take me before that.”
South Korea expresses regret after its athletes introduced as North Korean at opening ceremony
04:17
Namita Singh
South Korea expressed regret that its delegation of athletes at the Paris Olympics opening ceremony on Friday was introduced as from rival North Korea and has demanded assurances from organisers the mistake will not happen again.
As the boat carrying South Korean athletes passed on the Seine, the announcer introduced them as the “Democratic People’s Republic of Korea” - the official name of North Korea - in French and English.
The announcer used the same introduction when the North Korean delegation passed.
South Korea’s vice minister for sports and culture, Jang Mi-ran, who was in Paris, had requested a meeting with International Olympics Committee president Thomas Bach, the ministry said in a statement.
“We express regret that the country was introduced as North Korea at the opening ceremony of the Paris Olympic Games when the athletes of the Republic of Korea were entering,” it said.
Who is Florent Manaudou? France’s flagbearer seeks swimming success at Olympics 2024
04:00
Harry Latham-Coyle
It is a mark of the standing in which Florent Manaudou is held that the veteran swimmer was selected as the first man to carry the Olympic torch when it arrived on French soil in May. The 33-year-old is again the figurehead of home hopes in the pool, even with Leon Marchand’s emergence as a potential multi-stroke successor to Michael Phelps.
Faceless torch bearers and Marie Antoinette: No one knows what to make of Paris’ 2024 Olympic opening ceremony
03:45
Jack Rathborn
The 2024 Paris Olympic Games have officially commenced, and they’ve kicked off with what many are calling the most unique - and bizarre - opening ceremony.
On Friday, July 26, the thousands of Olympians competing in the games made their way to the heart of Paris, where they rode down the River Seine in boats manned by their respective countries.
But the boat procession wasn’t the only one-of-a-kind moment from this year’s opening ceremony, as the celebration was full of surprising moments, from headless Marie Antoinette figurines to faceless torch-bearers.
The rainy weather, which resulted in many athletes and attendees wearing plastic rain ponchos, only added to the overall mood of the ceremony, prompting many viewers watching at home to comment on the unconventional festivities.
Olympic organisers warn US anti-doping to back Wada or risk losing LA Games
03:30
Harry Latham-Coyle
The row between Wada and Usada escalated this week with figures on both sides producing punchy comments.
The Chinese swimming doping scandal casting doubt at the Paris Olympics
03:00
Harry Latham-Coyle
One story has been the hot topic ahead of the swimming action at Paris 2024 - and it’s not anyone’s exploits in the pool. Jack Rathborn explains the doping scandal casting a shadow over these Olympics.
Tom Daley’s secret signal to young sons during Olympics opening ceremony
02:45
Jack Rathborn
Tom Daley gave a secret signal to his young children during the opening ceremony for the Paris 2024 Olympics on Friday, 26 July.
The gold medallist, 30, and his husband, Dustin Lance Black, 50, have two sons.
Daley was a flagbearer on Great Britain‘s boat alongside rower Helen Glover.
He was seen smiling and making half a heart with his hands as the team travelled down the River Seine.
Later, Daley posted on Instagram describing the honour he felt carrying the flag - and revealed why he made the gesture.
Olympics swimming schedule: Every event, date and start time at Paris 2024
02:30
Harry Latham-Coyle
The Olympics are underway at Paris 2024 and many of the early medals will be won in the pool as the swimming events begin.
Swimming is one of the most watched sports at the Olympics and its finals are often prime-time viewing in the opening days of the Games, as big names clash again and again across several fiercely competitive events.
Adam Peaty: British swimmer bids for third successive Olympics title after challenging period
02:00
Harry Latham-Coyle
Adam Peaty enters his third Olympics bidding to do match the achievements of Michael Phelps as the only male swimmer to win three successive gold medals in the same event.
The mere fact that Peaty is in contention to match one of the achievements of perhaps the greatest Olympian of all time shows both his exceptional ability and remarkable longevity, both of which have contributed to him becoming recognised as the greatest men’s breaststroke swimmer in history.
Matt Richards: Swimming is different, it’s a life-saving skill
01:30
Jack Rathborn in Paris
Matt Richards senses his time is now. The 21-year-old gives an enthusiastic nod when pointing out how nine intense days could change his life and propel him towards superstardom. The 21-year-old is poised to become one of British swimming’s standout performers at the Paris Olympics.
Despite already being an Olympic champion, after delivering a storming third leg in the 4x200m freestyle in Tokyo, Richards is desperate to taste individual glory.
2024 Paris Olympics Opening Ceremony review: Interminable Seine procession is a washout
01:15
Jack Rathborn
Camp, glam and undeniably kitsch, the opening ceremonies are, in a way, so different from the raw machismo and power of the sports themselves. And yet, as Claire Balding announced at the commencement of the BBC’s coverage of the show, they are “nearly always the most watched part of an Olympic games.” And Paris’s show – long, winding, and frequently gravely dull – gave that vast audience a new twist.
There is a sense of one-upmanship inherent in the Olympic ceremonies, which peaked over the 2008 and 2012 games. Beijing’s curtain-raiser – considered one of the greatest theatrical spectacles ever mounted – was a $100m propaganda extravaganza. It was followed, in 2012, by a Danny Boyle-directed schmaltz-fest, Isles of Wonder, within Stratford’s Olympic stadium. But Rio, in 2016, couldn’t match the sheer scale of these performances, and the less said about the damp squib Tokyo Olympics the better. Could Paris restore some pride to proceedings?
Thomas Jolly, the actor and theatre director given the reins as Artistic Director of the ceremony, called tonight’s show an opportunity to “illustrate the richness and plurality shaped by [Paris’s] history”. The centrepiece of events was – for the first time – not a stadium associated with the games, but the magnificent Seine, the river which snakes through the French capital. It has been noted that the word “Seine” is a near-perfect homophone for the French word “scène”, meaning, fittingly, “stage”.
Who is Leon Marchand? Meet the French swimmer aiming to become the face of the Olympics
01:00
Harry Latham-Coyle
Leon Marchand arrives at Paris 2024 with the most pressure of any swimmer, as he looks to follow in the footsteps of Michael Phelps to become the face of his home Olympics.
Coached by Phelps’s former mentor Bob Bowman, Marchand broke the final world record of the most successful Olympian ever last summer and will now look to claim a first Olympic title at the age of 22.
Lady Gaga: Performance at Olympics opening ceremony was ‘supreme honour’
00:30
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.
Team GB parade through rain-soaked Paris for 2024 Olympic Games opening ceremony
00:05
Harry Latham-Coyle
Tomorrow at the Olympics: Saturday’s full schedule for Day 1 and first medal events at Paris 2024
23:50
Harry Latham-Coyle
Saturday brings the first full day of Olympics competition, with a huge programme of events set to take place across Paris.
Saboteurs launch ‘malicious’ arson attack on France’s rail networks hours before Paris Olympics
23:35
Harry Latham-Coyle
Saboteurs launched a “malicious” arson attack on France’s rail networks in “an effort to destabilise” the country just hours before the start of the Paris Olympic Games.
Up to 800,000 passengers are facing travel chaos attempting to reach Paris this weekend after high-speed rail services to the French capital were hit by what officials described as “criminal actions” ahead of the opening ceremony on Friday.
Who were the masked torchbearer and horse rider at the Olympics opening ceremony?
23:20
Jamie Braidwood in Paris
Two masked figures featured in the Olympics opening ceremony in Paris, first as a torchbearer ran across rooftops before a caped rider galloped down the Seine on a metal horse to deliver the Olympic flag.
The rider, Floriane Issert, a non-commissioned officer in the Gendarmerie Nationale clad in silver armour, concluded her ride at the Trocadero, giving the Olympic flag a majestic entrance before it was hoisted.
Earlier, a 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.
Flaming balloon cauldron marks start of 2024 Olympic Games
23:05
Harry Latham-Coyle
Olympic flag raised upside down at end of rain-soaked opening ceremony
22:55
Jamie Braidwood in Paris
The Olympic flag appeared to have been raised upside down in an embarrassing moment at the very start of Paris 2024 at the end of a spectacular rain-soaked opening ceremony on the River Seine.
Faceless torch bearers and Marie Antoinette: No one knows what to make of Paris’ 2024 Olympic opening ceremony
22:45
The Independent
The 2024 Paris Olympic Games have officially commenced, and they’ve kicked off with what many are calling the most unique - and bizarre - opening ceremony.
Paris embraces its ‘crazy’ idea to deliver Olympics opening ceremony like no other
22:37
Jack Rathborn in Paris
Paris 2024 always knew its idea for the opening ceremony was “crazy” but a relentless downpour on Friday evening ensured a damp start to the Olympics with many bewildered by its format.
Spectators scattered along the Seine, rather than packed into the Stade de France, meant a frustrating viewing experience too. And as Paris 2024 meandered through 12 tableaux of this floating parade, President Emmanuel Macron’s words proved rather prescient.
Clearly craving an idyllic sunset and starlit sky in the City of Light alongside its River Seine backdrop, Paris left many wondering why it swerved from the conventional format.
“It seemed to be a crazy and not very serious idea,” Macron remarked on Monday. “But we decided it was the right moment to deliver this crazy idea and make it real.”
Paris Olympics opening ceremony
22:30
Harry Latham-Coyle
Spellbinding. Celine Dion closes the opening ceremony in style.
Paris Olympics opening ceremony
22:26
Harry Latham-Coyle
And it gets better - standing on the middle tier of the Eiffel Tower is Celine Dion, performing for the first time in two years after being diagnosed with Stiff Person Syndrome.
Paris Olympics opening ceremony
22:24
Harry Latham-Coyle
A first look at the Olympic cauldron, and it’s a beaut - a ring of flames seven metres in diameter, topped by a 30 metre high and 22 metre in diameter hot-air balloon.
Three-time Olympic judo champion Teddy Riner and Marie-José Pérec, winner of three golds on the track at Barcelona 1992 and Atlanta 1996, will light the cauldron. They provide the flame and it takes off, rising in to the Parisian night to the sound of Edith Piaf’s “Hymne à l’amour”. Not everything has hit the mark tonight, but that’s a beautiful ending.
Paris Olympics opening ceremony
22:19
Harry Latham-Coyle
Out of the Louvre and down towards the lovely Tuileries Gardens, which separate the museum and the Place de la Concorde. They are a lovely place on a sunny afternoon; rather less so on a damp, dreary, deserted night.
Still, the array of torchbearers light it up as they carry the flame along.
Paris Olympics opening ceremony
22:16
Harry Latham-Coyle
NBA great Tony Parker takes the torch from Amelie Mauresmo, the San Antonio Spurs legend having inspired so many of the French basketballers hoping to upset the United States for gold in the men’s competition at these Olympics.
There’s the glass pyramid - we are on the grounds of the Louvre.
Paris Olympics opening ceremony
22:13
Harry Latham-Coyle
Waiting on the bank...Amelie Mauresmo. Tennis is doing rather well out of this opening ceremony.
The two-time grand slam champion carries it past the waving hordes.
Paris Olympics opening ceremony
22:09
Harry Latham-Coyle
Cerrone’s Supernature is the soundtrack to the boat’s journey along the Seine, the quartet seemingly bound for the Louvre.
Paris Olympics opening ceremony
22:07
Harry Latham-Coyle
Romanian gymnast Nadia Comaneci, 48 years on from recording a perfect 10, is next to pick up the baton, with great American athlete Carl Lewis on the anchor leg as Paris 2024 showcases some global sporting stars.
Paris Olympics opening ceremony
22:03
Harry Latham-Coyle
Nadal is whisked on to a boat, safety first as he dons a life jacket. It’s travelling at some speed, enough to get Nadal fretting that the flame might go out.
Luckily, Serena Williams is on hand to help him out, one great tennis player passing the torch to another.
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:
