The opening ceremony of the Paris Games will be truly special, as for the first time in the history of the Summer Olympics, the ceremony will take place outside the stadium, French media reported.
Thousands of athletes will parade through the centre of Paris on Friday in an unprecedented and risky Olympic opening ceremony that will showcase the country’s ambitious vision for the Games. During Friday night’s parade, up to 7,500 athletes will sail along a six-kilometre (four-mile) stretch of the Seine River in a flotilla of 85 boats.
Compared to the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo, which was postponed by a year and opened in an empty stadium, the Paris show will take place in front of 300,000 cheering spectators and an audience of VIPs and celebrities from around the world. French President Emmanuel Macron promised at a pre-Games dinner for heads of state and government at the Louvre museum on Thursday night:
“Tomorrow you will have one of the most incredible opening ceremonies.”
The line-up of performers is being kept a closely guarded secret, but rumour has it that American pop star Lady Gaga and French-Malian singer Aya Nakamura – the most listened to French-speaking singer in the world – will be among them.
Precautions have been strengthened
For the first time, the Summer Olympics will open outside the main athletics stadium, a decision fraught with danger at a time when France is on the highest alert for terrorism.
A huge security perimeter has been erected along both banks of the Seine, guarded around the clock by 45,000 police and paramilitary officers who will be on duty on Friday night.
Another 10,000 soldiers as well as 22,000 private security guards will complete this protective barrier. Police snipers will be stationed at every high point along the route of the river convoy, which faces hundreds of buildings.
The Israeli and Palestinian teams will get extra protection as tensions caused by Israel’s offensive in the Gaza Strip, where an estimated 40,000 people have been killed, have already spilled over into the Games.
Organisers will fear more protests Friday night after the Israeli football team’s first match on Wednesday was marked by Palestinian flags being waved and the Israeli anthem being booed.
First suspensions and disqualifications at the Olympics
On Thursday, the Canadian Olympic Committee (COC) suspended head coach Bev Priestman after she was suspended by Canadian Soccer Club over a drone spying scandal that brought the 2020 Olympic gold medallists into the world’s uncomfortable spotlight.
Canada’s women’s national team will work under assistant coach Andy Spence for the remainder of the Paris Games, the COC said. Canada Soccer CEO and general secretary Kevin Blue said in an emailed statement:
“Over the past 24 hours, additional information has come to our attention regarding previous drone use against opponents, predating the Paris 2024 Olympic Games. In light of these new revelations, Canada Soccer has made the decision to suspend Women’s National Team Head Coach, Bev Priestman for the remainder of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, and until the completion of our recently announced independent external review.”
Team Canada beat New Zealand 2-1 on Thursday in the opening match of the Paris Olympics, a match that Priestman voluntarily withdrew from after an espionage scandal broke this week.
A drone operated by a Canada Soccer employee disrupted New Zealand’s training session on Monday, days before their opening match against gold medallists Tokyo 2020.
Priestman apologised to the New Zealand players for the incident and said all responsibility lies with her.
Attack on the rail network
The French intercity TGV network of high-speed trains was subjected to a massive attack, causing the movement of trains in some directions to be hampered or stopped on Friday night. The incident occurred just hours before the opening of the Olympics and is unlikely to be resolved in the early days of the Games.
The French national railway company (SNCF) has reported several emergency incidents that have caused the TGVs to slow down. On the SNCF website, most of the transport lines are mottled with notices of operational irregularities. The reasons include an arson attack on the tracks in Courtenay, which disrupted traffic on the Atlantic line, as well as on railway lines near Pagny-sur-Moselle and between Paris and Lille.
