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07/26/24 05:33:00
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07/26 17:31 CDT Paris dazzles with a rainy Olympics opening ceremony on the
Seine River
Paris dazzles with a rainy Olympics opening ceremony on the Seine River
By JOHN LEICESTER and MEGAN JANETSKY
Associated Press
PARIS (AP) --- A hot-air balloon brought an Olympic ring of fire into a rainy
sky and singer Celine Dion belted from the Eiffel Tower as Paris kicked off its
first Summer Olympics in a century Friday, with a four-hour-long, rule-breaking
opening ceremony that unfurled along the Seine River.
On-and-off showers did not seem to hamper the enthusiasm of the athletes. Some
held umbrellas as they rode boats down the river in a showcase of the city's
resilience as authorities investigated suspected acts of sabotage targeting
France's high-speed rail network.
With the ambitious ceremony, the stakes for France were immense. Dozens of
heads of state and government were in town, and the world was watching as Paris
turned itself into a giant open-air theater. Along the Seine, iconic monuments
became stages for dancers, singers and other artists.
That included the Louvre museum, near where French judo champ Teddy Riner and
three-time Olympic champion runner Marie-Jose Perec lit the Olympic cauldron,
which was attached to a giant balloon that floated into the night --- an homage
to early French pioneers of manned flight.
"We survived the rain, but it didn't spoil any of our fun," USA beach
volleyball player Kelly Cheng said. "This was one of the most magical nights of
our lives."
Despite the weather, crowds crammed the Seine's banks and bridges and watched
from balconies, "oohing" and "aahing" as Olympic teams paraded in boats down
the waterway that got increasingly choppy as the weather worsened.
Many of the hundreds of thousands of spectators huddled under umbrellas,
plastic ponchos or jackets as the rain intensified, others danced and sang, and
some dashed from their seats for shelter.
"The rain can't stop us," said U.S. basketball star LeBron James, sporting a
plastic poncho along with the other American flag bearer, tennis player Coco
Gauff.
The weather made for some bizarre scenes at the show combining prerecorded and
live performances: a stiff upper-lipped pianist played on even as small puddles
formed on his grand piano. A breakdancer flipped her moves on the sheen of a
rain-drenched platform. Some athletes in Bermuda-style colorful shirts looked
dressed for the beach, not a deluge.
As global audiences tuned in, Paris put its best foot forward --- quite
literally, with a spectacular Olympic launch that lifted spirits and joyous
French cancan dancers early on. A humorous short film featured soccer icon
Zinedine Zidane. Plumes of French blue, white and red smoke followed.
Lady Gaga sang in French in a prerecorded bit, with dancers shaking pink plumed
pompoms, injecting a cabaret feel. On the Eiffel Tower, Dion closed the show
with her first live performance since the French-Canadian singer was diagnosed
stiff person syndrome, a rare neurological disorder, at the end of 2022.
More than three hours into the show, French President Emmanuel Macron declared
the Games open. In a gaffe before that, the five-ring Olympic flag was raised
upside down at the Trocadero across from the Eiffel Tower.
In some memorable moments, French-Malian pop star Aya Nakamura, the most
listened-to French-speaking artist in the world, emerged from a pyrotechnic
display in an all-gold out to sing her hit "Djadja" accompanied by a Republican
guard band of the French army.
The ceremony celebrated women, including 10 golden statues of female pioneers
that rose 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. She campaigned for the abolition
of slavery and was guillotined in 1793.
The Paris Games aim to be the first with equal numbers of men and women
competing.
The sprawling event gave organizers bigger crowds to transport, organize and
safeguard than previous Olympic ceremonies in stadiums.
Thousands of athletes on 85 boats started the 6-kilometer (nearly 4-mile)
parade on the Seine by breaking through curtains of water cascading down from
Austerlitz Bridge. The jetting waters were a wink at the fountains of
Versailles Palace, the venue for Olympic equestrian competitions.
Per Olympic protocol, the first boat carried athletes from Greece, birthplace
of the ancient Games. It was followed by the Olympic team of refugee athletes
and then, the other nations in French alphabetical order.
Some spectators who followed organizers' advice to arrive well ahead of time
along the ceremony route fumed over long waits to get to their seats.
"Paris has been great, anything to do with the Olympics and dissemination of
information has been horrible," said Tony Gawne, a 54-year-old Texan who turned
up six hours in advance with his wife.
"When you spend $6,000 on two tickets, well, that's a little frustrating," he
said.
But Paris had plenty of aces up its sleeve. The Eiffel Tower, its head visible
below the clouds, Notre Dame Cathedral --- restored from the ashes of its 2019
fire --- the Louvre Museum and other iconic monuments starred in the opening
ceremony. Award-winning theater director Thomas Jolly, the show's creative
mind, was using the signature Paris cityscape of zinc-gray rooftops as the
playground for his imagination.
His task: Tell the story of France, its people, their history and essence in a
way that leaves an indelible imprint on Olympic audiences. Refresh the image
and self-confidence of the French capital that was repeatedly struck by deadly
extremist attacks in 2015. Capture how Paris is also aiming to reboot the
Olympics, with Summer Games it has worked to make more appealing and
sustainable.
It was a big ask. So Paris went big, very big. That goes for the security, too.
Large fenced-off stretches of central Paris were locked down to those without
passes and the skies during the ceremony were a no-fly zone for 150 kilometers
(93 miles) around.
During the athletes' waterborne adventure, they passed historic landmarks that
have been temporarily transformed into arenas for Olympic sports.
Concorde Plaza, where French revolutionaries guillotined King Louis XVI and
other royals, now hosting skateboarding and other sports. The golden-domed
resting place of Napolon Bonaparte, the backdrop for Olympic archery, and the
Eiffel Tower, which donated chunks of iron that have been inlaid in the gold,
silver and bronze Olympic medals. They'll be won in the 32 sports' 329 medal
events.
Paris' aim, said Estanguet, is "to show to the whole world and to all of the
French that in this country, we're capable of exceptional things."
___
AP journalists Jerome Pugmire, Hanna Arhirova, Tales Azzoni, Jocelyn Noveck,
Debora Rey and Kristie Rieken and contributed from Paris. -__
AP Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/2024-paris-olympic-games
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