With just hours to go before the opening ceremony of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, bad news is piling up for the organizing committee.
12:00 – What is the largest and smallest delegation?
The largest delegation will be the United States, with 592 athletes at the opening ceremony of the Paris Olympics. The smallest, with only one member, will be Belize, Liechtenstein, Nauru (an island in Oceania located in Micronesia) and Somalia.
11:40 – Several French athletes will not be present
Between competition and pleasure, you sometimes have to choose. If Florent Manaudou will be present, he will be the only one from the French swimming delegation to be there. Mélanie Hénique wanted to participate but the managers did not want to make a special case as indicated by Le Parisien. Basketball will also be absent. We play the next day (Saturday) at 5 p.m., recalls general manager Boris Diaw. If we were in Paris, if we had played two days later, it would have been possible but not now.” Rugby 7s, the handball teams will also not be present.
11:20 – Who is the last bearer?
This is THE question of the opening ceremony. Who will be the last bearer of the Olympic flame and light the cauldron? Several names are circulating, one insistently, that of Marie José Perec. The triple Olympic champion is a legend of Olympism and fully deserves this honor. The name of Zinedine Zidane also comes up insistently as does a surprise name, that of Jean Dujardin because of the presence of a certain Zorro to light this flame (the actor will play in the series).
11:00 – Dancers in danger on the roofs?
While the rain may pose some problems for the dancers of the opening ceremony, some associations have alerted public services about the presence of asbestos on the roofs of Paris, demanding a right of withdrawal for the artists. After the controversies over working conditions and salaries, this new point is delicate to manage for the organizers.
10:40 – Other stars as standard-bearers
Several stars are expected with their national flag. For the United States, the legend LeBron James and the tennis player Coco Gauff will carry the American flag. First, it is the Greek and other NBA star, Giannis Antetokounmpo who will inaugurate the parade of athletes. The Italian Olympic champion and eccentric Gianmarco Tamberi will also be honored.
10:20 – Florent Manaudou and Melina Robert Michon at the forefront
With this rain and this spectacle, we may almost forget the athletes. Tonight, at the end of the athletes’ parade, Florent Manaudou and Melina Robert Michon will proudly carry the French flag on the Seine. The two athletes, elected a few days ago, expect to experience a unique moment.
10:00 – Rain won’t spoil anything for Hidalgo
“For years, we have been saying no, on July 26th it can only be sunny. We will make do,” she said, acknowledging however that the rain “could disrupt the ceremony a little in the sense that there are scenes planned for slightly drier weather. There will be extraordinary lights, it will not spoil the ceremony,” she assured however.
09:42 – SNCF disrupted a few hours before the ceremony
The SNCF was the victim of “several simultaneous malicious acts affecting the TGV Atlantique, Nord and Est lines” during the night from Thursday to Friday. “Deliberate fires were started to damage our facilities” explained the railway company in a press release which assured that teams “are already on site to carry out the diagnosis and begin repairs”. But the SNCF also warned that the disruptions, numerous on the morning of Friday 26 July, should “last at least the entire weekend”, the time to carry out the necessary repairs. “We will assess the impacts today for passengers and athletes, but also the impacts for this weekend which concern the smooth transport of all delegations to the competition sites”. “Playing against the Games is playing against France, against your camp, against your country” explained the Minister of Sports.
09:40 – An adaptation because of the rain?
“It is a hazard to which our responsibility is to know how to adapt” declared the Minister of Sports Amélie Oudéa Castera on BFM TV.” Obviously, the team around Thomas Jolly [l’homme choisi il y a deux ans pour organiser les cérémonies des Jeux olympiques de Paris 2024] has designed different scenarios. It won’t spoil the party in any way. It’s an open-air ceremony.”
09:20 – Celine Dion, Lady Gaga, we take stock
There is little doubt that Celine Dion will be there for the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games. Arriving Tuesday morning in Paris, the mega star, who has not sung since 2020, will perform a song by Édith Piaf, probably L’hymne à l’amour. Aya Nakamura will tackle the repertoire of Charles Aznavour, accompanied by the Republican Guard. Lady Gaga will also be there.
09:00 – “We want people to say Wow”
On RTL, Tony Estanguet gave his opinion a few hours before the big day. “We already wanted a completely new format at the venue so that people would say to themselves, ‘Wow, we’ve never seen that before. We really wanted to mix sport and culture,’ added Mr. Estanguet, specifying that 2,000 artists will perform tonight. Usually, at ceremonies, there is a first part that is very artistic, and a second part that is more focused on the athletes. But here, we really wanted the athletes to be present from the start and to integrate the artistic part into the presentation of the athletes who will follow one another throughout the evening.”
08:40 – A problem for pregnant women?
“I read somewhere that it was not recommended for pregnant women and people with reduced mobility. I understand that there are organizational constraints but it’s shocking to read that. I thought of my disabled father who would have dreamed of attending but for whom nothing was thought of, apart from perhaps an overpriced ticket,” says a young woman to Le Figaro who decided not to go to the ceremony despite the invitations.
08:28 – Unpredictable weather
The sun was forecast a few days ago, but the grey and rainy weather will finally be there for the opening ceremony of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games. “We are expecting a little rain in the morning, nothing major,” explains a weather specialist on the Olympic Morning Show on RMC. “However, after a little lull this afternoon, the rain should start up again unfortunately in the late afternoon and evening. It is expected between 6 p.m. and 7 p.m. And the cumulative rainfall between 6-7 p.m. and midnight is expected to be quite significant. We are forecasting up to 25-30 mm of rain. To give you a comparison, that is the equivalent of 15 days of precipitation in a few hours. It is not lighting the fire, it is really putting it out.”