History was made on Friday night as Paris hosted the first Olympic opening ceremony outside of a stadium environment, with hundreds of thousands of fans lining the River Seine to watch the unique event.
The ambitious ceremony featured performances from Lady Gaga and Celine Dion, with the latter helping to close out the show from the Eiffel Tower. Eighty-five boats were used to carry 6,800 athletes along the Seine towards the Eiffel Tower.
The four-hour show, which was created by artistic director Thomas Jolly, culminated in a hot-air balloon – dubbed the Cauldron of the Olympic Games – taking to the skies above the French capital. The cauldron is 30 metres high and will fly more than 60 metres above the ground every day during the Games.
Over 1,000 cameras were used during the event, and the television coverage was somewhat impacted by the persistent rain that fell throughout the ceremony. Originally, there had been plans for at least 600,000 fans to attend the ceremony, which would have been around 10 times more than the capacity of Paris 2024’s main stadium, the Stade de France.
Earlier this year, France’s Minister of Interior Gérald Darmanin said that around 300,000 spectators would be able to watch, with the majority of tickets made available for free.
In April, French President Emmanuel Macron revealed that two backup options were under consideration for the ceremony amid fears the event could be targeted by terrorists. Macron said that the event could have been limited to the Trocadéro or the Stade de France, but the ceremony was ultimately able to go ahead as planned on the Seine.
Opening ceremonies in non-stadium settings could become more commonplace after the International Olympic Committee last week approved an amendment of an Olympic Charter rule to allow more flexibility with the host venue by replacing the words ‘Olympic stadium’ with ‘opening ceremony venue’.
After Friday night’s opening ceremony, the Paris Games began in earnest on Saturday with competitions taking place across the city. Last night, French swimmer Léon Marchand, one of the poster boys of the Games, delivered for the home fans by winning the 400m medley gold medal at the Paris La Défense Arena.
The stadium is primarily used to host rugby union matches played by Racing 92 but it has been transformed for the Olympics, where it is hosting water polo and swimming. It will also host para swimming events during the Paralympics.
Elsewhere yesterday, a new attendance record was set at the Stade de France as 66,000 fans watched the opening day of the women’s rugby sevens competition. Australia, New Zealand, USA and host nation France all confirmed their quarter-final spots with a game to spare.
The Olympics will run until August 11, with the Paralympics to follow from August 28 to September 8. The Paralympics opening ceremony is also set to take place outside of a traditional stadium setting, with the athletes’ parade to stretch from the Champs-Elysées to Place de la Concorde.
