For months before the 2024 Summer Olympics , there had been questions surrounding Paris’ ability to hold such a massive event. The city’s residents had threatened to defecate in the Seine River — the site of the opening ceremony — in protest of its highly polluted waters. As the opening presentation neared, things didn’t exactly get better.
Just this morning, France’s high-speed rail trains were a target of arson, and thunderstorms cast clouds over the city. Yet, when the opener finally commenced, audiences were transported through a whimsical and engaging four-hour showcase that presented the best of Paris’ glorious architecture and music while welcoming top athletes from across the globe to the French capital. The ceremony launched with French soccer legend Zinedine Zidane jogging through the streets, carrying the lighted torch down into the Paris Metro and emerging on the Seine via sailboat in a gorgeous explosion of blue, white and red hovering above the river.
For the first time in modern history, the ceremony took place outside a stadium. As the journey of the torch commenced, audiences witnessed French President Emmanuel Macron and International Olympic Committee (IOC) President Thomas Bach embracing and waving at the crowds. Afterward, 85 boats carrying 205 Olympic teams arrived in (mostly) alphabetical order.
They waved flags and cheered while wearing rain ponchos as their boats glided toward the Eiffel Tower. Thankfully, ceremony director Thomas Jolly .