Paris welcomed the 33rd Olympic Games with an opening ceremony like no other but Friday night’s flotilla down the River Seine was almost washed away by relentless rain.
Zinedine Zidane, Lady Gaga, and Celine Dion were among those to lend the event star power, but a ceremony designed to be staged on the water was largely in it as athletes and performers alike were left drenched by the time the Olympic flame rose above the city on a balloon.
A total of 85 boats carried the team delegations on a six-kilometre journey through the centre of Paris, with more than 300,000 spectators lining the banks of the river.
But as the night went on rain grew steadily heavier, leaving hundreds of dancers out in the damp as they delivered a series of performances that sought to convey the story of Paris and of France.
Lady Gaga was the first to steal the show, bursting forth from behind a pair of out-sized pink pom-poms to deliver a burlesque take on the French classic ‘Mon truc en plume’.
The performances came in all shapes and sizes, with Gojira adding a dramatic twist of heavy metal.
British prime minister Sir Keir Starmer was among those watching from the main stadium in the Jardins du Trocadero, donned in a Team GB rain jacket while others were decked out in ponchos.
GB’s flagbearers Tom Daley and Helen Glover are two athletes well-accustomed to the water, and were joined by the likes of Andy Murray on the team’s boat.
Once at the Trocadero, those athletes willing to stick it out began to gather by the long stage – designed in the shape of the Eiffel Tower – down the centre of the temporary stadium, which staff were busily trying to keep free of standing water with mops.
The biggest boat of all was reserved for hosts France, who rounded off the flotilla on a packed vessel that looked more like a ferry as dance music cranked up the atmosphere.
Once they had made their way into the stadium, IOC president Thomas Bach welcomed all of the competitors to the Games.
“Dear athletes, you have come to Paris as athletes, now you’re Olympians,” he said. “Now you realise generations of athletes before, now you are part of something bigger. Now we are all part of an event recognised across the world.”
Addressing conflicts around the world, he added: “Olympians from all around the world show what greatness us humans are capable of. Let us celebrate this Olympic spirit of living life in peace, as the one and only humankind, united in all our diversity.
“So I invite everybody to dream with us. It is why tonight the heart has strong emotion. I invite the whole world to celebrate together. Long live the Olympic Games, long live France.”
The Olympic torch’s long journey through the city, part reality, part fantasy, came to a finish when Zidane appeared to hand it to Rafael Nadal. He was then joined by fellow tennis great Serena Williams, Nadia Comanechi and Carl Lewis as they took it back down the Seine.
It eventually found its way to Marie-Jose Perec and Teddy Riner to light the flame, sending a balloon rising into the Paris sky.
As it did so, Celine Dion appeared on the deck of the Eiffel Tower to close the ceremony with a powerful rendition of Edith Piaf’s ‘L’Hymne a l’amour’, her first public performance since she revealed in December 2022 she is living with the rare condition stiff person syndrome.
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