Paris celebrated its first Summer Olympics in a century with a spectacular opening ceremony along the Seine River on a rainy Friday. The four-hour-long event featured a hot-air balloon bringing an Olympic ring of fire into the sky and singer Celine Dion performing from the Eiffel Tower. Despite intermittent showers, the enthusiasm of the athletes remained undeterred as they paraded in boats, showcasing the city’s resilience amid investigations into suspected acts of sabotage targeting France’s high-speed rail network.
The ceremony was a significant moment for France, with dozens of heads of state and government in attendance and the world watching as Paris transformed into a massive open-air theater. Iconic monuments along the Seine, including the Louvre Museum, served as stages for dancers, singers, and other performers.
French judo champion Teddy Riner and three-time Olympic champion runner Marie-Jose Perec lit the Olympic cauldron near the Louvre Museum. The cauldron was attached to a giant balloon that floated into the night sky, paying homage to early French pioneers of manned flight. “We survived the rain, but it didn’t spoil any of our fun,” said USA beach volleyball player Kelly Cheng. The athletes’ parade down the increasingly choppy Seine was met with crowds crammed on the banks and bridges, watching from balconies and cheering despite the weather.
Some spectators took shelter under umbrellas, plastic ponchos, or jackets as the rain intensified, while others danced, sang, or sought cover. “The rain can’t stop us,” said U.S. basketball star LeBron James, who wore a plastic poncho alongside tennis player Coco Gauff.
The weather led to some unusual scenes, such as a pianist playing on a grand piano with small puddles forming on it and a breakdancer performing on a rain-drenched platform. Some athletes wore Bermuda-style colorful shirts, appearing dressed for the beach rather than the rain. Organizers had to cancel some elements of the show due to slippery conditions, but Paris still managed to impress a global audience with a spectacular Olympic launch.
The event included a humorous short film featuring soccer icon Zinedine Zidane, plumes of French blue, white, and red smoke, and a prerecorded performance by Lady Gaga singing in French with dancers shaking pink plumed pompoms, adding a cabaret feel. Dion closed the show with her first live performance since being diagnosed with stiff person syndrome, a rare neurological disorder, in late 2022.
French President Emmanuel Macron declared the Games open more than three hours into the show. However, an Olympic flag was mistakenly raised upside down at the Trocadero across from the Eiffel Tower. One of the ceremony’s memorable moments featured French-Malian pop star Aya Nakamura, the most listened-to French-speaking artist in the world, emerging from a pyrotechnic display in an all-gold outfit to sing her hit “Djadja” accompanied by a Republican Guard band of the French army.
The ceremony highlighted women’s achievements, with ten golden statues of female pioneers rising from giant pedestals along the river. Among them was Olympe de Gouges, who drafted the Declaration of the Rights of Women and the Female Citizen in 1791 during the French Revolution, campaigned for the abolition of slavery, and was guillotined in 1793. The Paris Games aim to be the first with equal numbers of male and female competitors.
The event presented logistical challenges, with larger crowds to transport, organize, and safeguard compared to previous Olympic ceremonies in stadiums. Thousands of athletes paraded on 85 boats, starting the nearly four-mile route on the Seine by breaking through curtains of water cascading from Austerlitz Bridge, reminiscent of the fountains of Versailles Palace, the venue for Olympic equestrian competitions.
Per Olympic tradition, athletes from Greece, the birthplace of the ancient Games, led the parade, followed by the Olympic team of refugee athletes and other nations in French alphabetical order. Some spectators were frustrated by long waits to reach their seats despite arriving well ahead of time. “Paris has been great, anything to do with the Olympics and dissemination of information has been horrible,” said Tony Gawne, a Texan who arrived six hours early with his wife. “When you spend $6,000 on two tickets, well, that’s a little frustrating.”
However, Paris dazzled with iconic landmarks such as the Eiffel Tower, Notre Dame Cathedral, and the Louvre Museum starring in the ceremony. Award-winning theater director Thomas Jolly, the show’s creative mind, used the cityscape’s zinc-gray rooftops as a canvas to tell the story of France, its people, history, and essence, aiming to leave a lasting impression on Olympic audiences and refresh the image of Paris. The French capital, repeatedly struck by deadly extremist attacks in 2015, also aimed to reboot the Olympics with more appealing and sustainable Summer Games.
Security was tight, with large stretches of central Paris fenced off to those without passes and a no-fly zone extending 93 miles around the city during the ceremony. Athletes passed historic landmarks temporarily transformed into Olympic sports venues, including Concorde Plaza, now hosting skateboarding and other sports, and the golden-domed resting place of Napoleon Bonaparte, serving as the backdrop for Olympic archery. The Eiffel Tower contributed iron chunks inlaid in the gold, silver, and bronze Olympic medals to be awarded in 329 events across 32 sports.
Paris’ goal, as stated by chief Paris Games organizer Tony Estanguet, was “to show to the whole world and to all of the French that in this country, we’re capable of exceptional things.”