Paris Olympics open with star-studded ceremony on Seine amid rain and tight security

Israeli delegation, which is being guarded by elite French tactical units, receives a few boos but a lot of cheers as athletes sail down river in armada to kick off 2024 Games

  • Athletes from Israel's delegation sail in a boat along the river Seine during the opening ceremony of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games in Paris on July 26, 2024. (Luis Tato/AFP)
    Athletes from Israel's delegation sail in a boat along the river Seine during the opening ceremony of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games in Paris on July 26, 2024. (Luis Tato/AFP)
  • Israel's delegation with flag bearers Peter Paltchik (2R) and Andrea Murez (R) sails on a boat during the opening ceremony of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games in Paris on July 26, 2024. (Damien Meyer/AFP)
    Israel's delegation with flag bearers Peter Paltchik (2R) and Andrea Murez (R) sails on a boat during the opening ceremony of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games in Paris on July 26, 2024. (Damien Meyer/AFP)
  • Members of the Raid (French police intervention unit) patrol on the Seine before the start of the opening ceremony of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games in Paris on July 26, 2024. (Miguel Medina/AFP)
    Members of the Raid (French police intervention unit) patrol on the Seine before the start of the opening ceremony of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games in Paris on July 26, 2024. (Miguel Medina/AFP)
  • Smoke clouds in the tricolours of the France flag are seen during the opening ceremony of the Paris Olympics, July 26, 2024. (Nir Elias/Pool/AFP)
    Smoke clouds in the tricolours of the France flag are seen during the opening ceremony of the Paris Olympics, July 26, 2024. (Nir Elias/Pool/AFP)
  • French Paralympic Marie-Amelie Le Fur holds the Olympic torch during the opening ceremony of the 2024 Paris Games on July 26, 2024, as the Louvre Museum is seen in the background. (David GRAY/AFP)
    French Paralympic Marie-Amelie Le Fur holds the Olympic torch during the opening ceremony of the 2024 Paris Games on July 26, 2024, as the Louvre Museum is seen in the background. (David GRAY/AFP)
  • An overview of the Trocadero venue with the Eiffel Tower in the background, in Paris, during the opening ceremony of the 2024 Summer Olympics, July 26, 2024. (Francois-Xavier Marit/Pool Photo via AP)
    An overview of the Trocadero venue with the Eiffel Tower in the background, in Paris, during the opening ceremony of the 2024 Summer Olympics, July 26, 2024. (Francois-Xavier Marit/Pool Photo via AP)
  • Teddy Riner and Marie-Jose Perec watch as the cauldron rises in a balloon in Paris, France, during the opening ceremony of the 2024 Summer Olympics, Friday, July 26, 2024. (AP Photo/David Goldman)
    Teddy Riner and Marie-Jose Perec watch as the cauldron rises in a balloon in Paris, France, during the opening ceremony of the 2024 Summer Olympics, Friday, July 26, 2024. (AP Photo/David Goldman)

PARIS — French President Emmanuel Macron declared the Olympic Games open on Friday after a soaking wet ceremony in which athletes were cheered by the crowd along the Seine, dancers took to the roofs of Paris and Lady Gaga sang a French cabaret song.

France’s three-time Olympic gold medalists Marie-Jose Perec and Teddy Riner then lit the Olympic cauldron, suspended on a hot-air balloon, before Canada’s Celine Dion sang Edith Piaf’s “Hymn to Love,” in her first public performance in years, drawing huge cheers from the crowd.

A fleet of barges took the competitors on a 6 kilometer-stretch of the river alongside some of the French capital’s most famous landmarks, as performers recreated some of the sports to be showcased in the Games on floating platforms.

It was the first time that an opening ceremony has taken place outside a stadium, adding to the headaches for a vast security operation, just hours after a sabotage attack on the high-speed TGV rail network caused travel chaos across France.

“I invite everybody: dream with us. Like the Olympic athletes, be inspired with the joy that only sport can give us. Let us celebrate this Olympic spirit of living in peace,” International Olympics Committee President Thomas Bach said as the ceremony came to an end at the foot of the Eiffel Tower.

More than 10,500 athletes will compete at the Olympics, 100 years since Paris last staged the Games. Competition ted on Wednesday and the first of the 329 gold medals will be awarded on Saturday.

An overview of the Trocadero venue with the Eiffel Tower in the background, in Paris, during the opening ceremony of the 2024 Summer Olympics, July 26, 2024. (Francois-Xavier Marit/Pool Photo via AP)

As the show started four hours earlier, a giant plume of blue, white and red smoke, resembling the French flag, was sent high above a bridge over the Seine as part of a show that included many postcard-like depictions of France, including a huge cancan line performed by Moulin Rouge dancers on the banks.

A more modern image of the country was on display when French-Malian pop star Aya Nakamura, the most-listened to French female singer in the world, sang some of her biggest hits, accompanied by the French Republican Guard’s army choir.

Nakamura’s performance drew some of the ceremony’s biggest cheers. Rumors of her inclusion had sparked a row over French identity, with supporters saying said she represented the vibrancy of modern-day France while her detractors saying her music owes more to foreign influences than French.

Pouring rain

While the celebration of French culture, fashion and history was warmly cheered by many of the 300,000 spectators lining the river, hundreds were seen leaving early as the rain fell.

“It was good other than the rain, it was nice, it was different, instead of being in a stadium being on the river, so that’s always a good thing — interesting, unique,” said Avid Pureval, 34, who came to the Games from Ohio.

“Once you’re wet, it’s fine,” he said. Still, he was heading back to his hotel after the French boat passed, long before the ceremony ended.

“It would have been better with sun,” said Josephine, from Paris, sitting beside her 9-year-old daughter and who paid 1,600 euros ($1,736) for her seat.

Members of the Raid (French police intervention unit) patrol on the Seine before the start of the opening ceremony of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games in Paris on July 26, 2024. (Miguel Medina/AFP)

With many world leaders and VIPs present, the ceremony was protected by snipers on rooftops. The Seine’s riverbed was swept for bombs, and Paris’ airspace was closed.

Some 45,000 police and thousands of soldiers were deployed in a huge security operation in Paris for the ceremony. Armed police patrolled along the river in inflatable boats as the armada made its passage along the Seine.

Israeli delegation

France is at its highest level of security, though officials have repeatedly said there was no specific threat to the opening ceremony or the Games.

But since the last Games — the Winter Olympics held in Beijing in 2022 — wars have erupted in Ukraine and Gaza, providing a tense international backdrop.

Israeli competitors are being escorted by elite tactical units to and from events and given 24-hour protection throughout the Olympics due to the ongoing war in Gaza sparked by Hamas’s October 7 terror onslaught, officials say.

Athletes from Israel’s delegation sail in a boat along the river Seine during the opening ceremony of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games in Paris on July 26, 2024. (Luis Tato/AFP)

The Israeli delegation received a few boos, but also a lot of cheers, as it sailed by spectators. Chants of “Palestine! Palestine! Palestine!” rose from the crowd as the boat passed.

The delegation, which is made up of 88 athletes competing in 15 different sports, posed in front of the Eiffel Tower.

Welcomed in Tahiti

A mix of French and international stars, including soccer great Zinedine Zidane, 14-times French Open champion Rafa Nadal, 23-times Grand Slam champion Serena Williams and three paralympic athletes were among the last torchbearers before the cauldron was lit.

It will blaze until the closing ceremony on August 11.

French Paralympic Marie-Amelie Le Fur holds the Olympic torch during the opening ceremony of the 2024 Paris Games on July 26, 2024, as the Louvre Museum is seen in the background. (David GRAY/AFP)

At the start of the parade, applause erupted for the Greek boat – the first delegation, by tradition – and there were even bigger cheers for the boat that followed, carrying the refugees’ team. The French, US and Ukrainian delegations also got loud cheers.

The two most decorated athletes in the Games’ history, Michael Phelps and Martin Fourcade, unveiled the gold, silver and bronze medals.

At one point, there was a live crossover to the early morning welcome ceremony at the surfing venue, 16,000 kilometers away in the Pacific island of Tahiti.

Macron, who won a second mandate two years ago, had hoped the Olympics would cement his legacy. But his failed bet on a snap legislative election has weakened him and cast a shadow over his moment on the international stage.

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