Paris shines with rainy opening ceremony of the Olympic Games on the Seine

BY JOHN LEICESTER AND MEGAN JANETSKY

PARIS (AP) — A hot air balloon carried an Olympic ring of fire into a rainy sky and singer Celine Dion sang from the Eiffel Tower as Paris kicked off the first Summer Olympics in a century on Friday with a rule-breaking four-hour opening ceremony that unfolded along the Seine River.

Occasional showers did not seem to dampen the athletes’ enthusiasm. Some held umbrellas as they sailed across the river in their boats, a demonstration of the city’s resilience as authorities investigated suspected acts of sabotage targeting France’s high-speed rail network.

The ambitious ceremony was huge for France. Dozens of heads of state and government were in town, and the world watched as Paris transformed itself into a giant open-air theatre. Along the Seine, iconic monuments became stages for dancers, singers and other artists.

This included the Louvre Museum, near the spot where French judo champion Teddy Riner and three-time Olympic champion runner Marie-Jose Perec lit the Olympic flame. This flame was attached to a giant balloon that floated into the night – a tribute to the early French pioneers of manned aviation.

“We survived the rain, but it didn’t spoil our fun,” said American beach volleyball player Kelly Cheng. “This was one of the most magical nights of our lives.”

Despite the weather, crowds gathered on the banks and bridges of the Seine, watching from balconies as they ooohed and aahed as the Olympic teams paraded in boats along the increasingly rough waterway.

Many of the hundreds of thousands of spectators huddled under umbrellas, plastic ponchos or coats as the rain grew heavier. Others danced and sang, and a few ran from their seats in search of shelter.

“The rain can’t stop us,” said American basketball star LeBron James, who wore a plastic poncho along with the other American flag bearer, tennis star Coco Gauff.

Olympic Games in Paris

The weather made for some bizarre scenes during the show, which combined pre-recorded and live performances: a pianist with a stiff upper lip played on as small puddles formed on his grand piano. A breakdancer spun her moves on the sheen of a rain-soaked platform. Some athletes in colorful Bermuda-style shirts seemed dressed for the beach, not a downpour.

According to the organizers, they had to cancel some parts of the show due to the weather, as they deemed the slippery conditions too dangerous.

Still, as the global audience tuned in, Paris put its best foot forward — literally, with a spectacular Olympic launch that brightened the mood and cheered on French cancan dancers early on. A humorous short film featuring soccer icon Zinedine Zidane. Plumes of French blue, white and red smoke followed.

Lady Gaga sang in French in a pre-recorded segment with dancers shaking pink pompoms, evoking a cabaret feel. Atop the Eiffel Tower, Dion closed the show with her first live performance since the French-Canadian singer was diagnosed with stiff person syndrome, a rare neurological condition, in late 2022.

More than three hours into the show, French President Emmanuel Macron declared the Games open. In a blunder before that, the five-ringed Olympic flag was hoisted upside down at the Trocadero opposite the Eiffel Tower.

In a series of memorable moments, French-Malaysian pop star Aya Nakamura, the most listened to French-speaking artist in the world, emerged from a pyrotechnic spectacle in an all-gold dress to sing her hit “Djadja”, accompanied by a Republican Guard band from the French army.

The ceremony celebrated women, including 10 golden statues of female pioneers rising from giant plinths along the river. Among them was Olympe de Gouges, who in 1791 during the French Revolution drafted the Declaration of the Rights of Women and of the Female Citizen. She campaigned for the abolition of slavery and was guillotined in 1793.

The aim of the Paris Games is to be the first to have an equal number of men and women participating.

The event was so elaborate that organizers had to transport, organize and guard a larger crowd than at previous stadium Olympic ceremonies.

Thousands of athletes on 85 boats began the 6-kilometer (almost 4-mile) parade on the Seine by breaking through curtains of water cascading from the Austerlitz Bridge. The spray was a nod to the fountains at the Palace of Versailles, the site of Olympic equestrian competitions.

According to Olympic protocol, the first boat carried athletes from Greece, the birthplace of the ancient Games. Then came the Olympic team of refugee athletes, and then the other countries in alphabetical order of French.

Some spectators who followed organizers’ advice to arrive along the ceremony route well in advance were angry about the long waits before they could get their seats.

“Paris was amazing, everything about the Olympics and the spread of information was terrible,” said Tony Gawne, a 54-year-old Texan who arrived with his wife six hours before the event.

“If you spend $6,000 on two tickets, it’s pretty frustrating,” he said.

But Paris had plenty of aces up its sleeve. The Eiffel Tower, its head visible beneath the clouds, Notre Dame Cathedral — rebuilt from the ashes of the 2019 fire — the Louvre Museum and other iconic monuments were the centerpieces of the ceremony. Award-winning theater director Thomas Jolly, the show’s creative mind, used the iconic Parisian cityscape of zinc-gray rooftops as a playground for his imagination.

His mission: to tell the story of France, its people, their history and essence in a way that leaves an indelible impression on the Olympic audience. To refresh the image and self-confidence of the French capital, which was repeatedly hit by deadly extremist attacks in 2015. To document how Paris also wants to restart the Olympic Games, with the Summer Games that it has made more attractive and sustainable.

It was a big ask. So Paris went big, really big. That goes for security too. Large fenced-off areas of central Paris were closed to people without a pass, and the sky was a 150-kilometre (93-mile) no-fly zone during the ceremony.

During the athletes’ water adventure, they passed historic sites that had been temporarily converted into arenas for Olympic sports.

Concorde Plaza, where French revolutionaries beheaded King Louis XVI and other royals, now a venue for skateboarding and other sports. The golden-domed resting place of Napoleon Bonaparte, the setting for Olympic archery, and the Eiffel Tower, which donated pieces of iron that are inlaid into the gold, silver and bronze Olympic medals won in the 329 medal events across 32 sports.

According to Tony Estanguet, the chief organizer of the Paris Games, the aim of Paris was to “show the whole world and all French people that we are capable of exceptional things in this country.”