Paris 2024 Olympics, Opening Ceremony highlights: French history, sporting legends honoured in grand start to Summer Games

And that is it for tonight. Despite thousands of spectators facing long queues and ticketing problems as they arrived for the opening ceremony of the Paris Olympics along the River Seine, we hope that you have enjoyed the coverage from Sportstar.

Keep following for real-time updates from the Summer Games.

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A year and half after her withdrawal from public appearances, Celine Dion performs Édith Piaf’s famous work, Hymne à l’amour (the Hymn to Love).

Former French tennis player and French Open director Amélie Mauresmo receives the torch from the boat and runs alongside the crowd. 

She passes it to former NBA player Tony Parker and the two of them jog past the Louvre and its pyramid.

Many more Olympic and Paralympic athletes carry the torch towards the Jardin des Tuileries. Teddy Riner and Marie-José Pérec are the final torchbearers.

They carry the flame to the cauldron in the Jardin des Tuileries, aligned with the Louvre, Place de la Concorde, the Champs-Élysées, and the Arc de Triomphe.

A hot air balloon is attached to it which rises once the flame is lit. A nod to the first hydrogen-powered flight of a balloon, which took place in the Tuileries in 1783.

Nadal travels across the Seine River in a boat and hands over the torch to Serena Williams who then passes it to Nadia Comaneci. Carl Lewis is the final icon in the boat to carry the torch.

The mysterious masked character arrives and passes the torch to Zinedine Zidane. Loud cheers as Rafael Nadal appears and takes the torch from Zizou.

The Eiffel Tower slowly lights up the night sky with the rings appearing one by one.

President Emmanuel Macron says in French: “I declare the Games of the XXXIII Olympiad open!”

“What better place than Paris to share the magic of this Olympic Games with the whole world?” he says.

“Paris, the birthplace of our founder, Pierre de Coubertin, to whom we owe everything. Paris, City of Light, where he created the modern Olympic Games. Paris, City of Love,” he adds

The Olympic Laurel Award is presented to Filippo Grandi, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees and a big supporter of the Refugee Olympic Team.

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Sofian Pamart and Juliette Armanet perform John Lennon and Yoko Ono’s timeless classic, Imagine as the screen displays ‘We all stand and call for peace’!

Flagbearers Florent Manaudou and Mélina Robert-Michon lead the host’s contingent! And the cheers from the audience rises!

The Nigeria women’s basketball team wasn’t allowed to board the delegation’s boat for the opening ceremony of the Paris Olympics a report said.

Once the team made it to the area where it was supposed to board the boat for the ceremony, the group was denied entry by a Nigerian official who told the players and coaches there were too many people on board. The team then made its way to the athletes village after being turned away.

- AP

Headless figures depicting the 18th century Queen Marie Antoinette line up with fire shows along the Seine river embankment outside the Conciergerie, where the queen was held captive during the French revolution, during the Paris 2024 Olympics opening ceremony. Credit - AFP

Our reporters say there is a power outage in the press box due to the rains. The ceremony carries on though!

With the national anthem La Marseillaise playing in the background, the ceremony pays tribute to Olympe de Gouges, Alice Milliat, Gisèle Halimi, Simone de Beauvoir, Paulette Nardal, Jeanne Barret, Louise Michel, Christine de Pizan, Alice Guy, and Simone Veil.

India and Indonesia pass through the Siene in the same boat. 

Flagbearers Sharath Kamal and co-flag bearer PV Sindhu lead the 78-member contingent.

The opening ceremony continue to proceed despite the heavy rains, which do not dampen the spirits of the spectators, the performers or even the athletes that are taking it all in.

Aya Nakamura performs her popular songs ‘Pookie’ and ‘Djadja’ at the Pont des Arts, a bridge linking the Institut de France to the Louvre Museum.

The mysterious torch bearer makes their way through a re-enactment of the French Revolution.

Opera singer Marina Viotti and heavy metal band Gojira performs Ah, ça ira, a famous song sung by French revolutionaries.

The superstar is rendering the French classic Mon truc en plumes by Zizi Jeanmaire at the Grand Palais.

India: Two-time Olympic medallist and badminton star P.V. Sindhu and table tennis player Sharath Kamal. 

Britain: Helen Glover, rowing (two-time gold medalist in the coxless pair) and Tom Daley, diving (Tokyo gold medalist in 10-meter synchronized diving and owner of three Olympic bronzes) 

Canada: Maude Charron, weightlifting (Tokyo gold medalist in the 64-kilogram category) and Andre de Grasse, athletics (Tokyo gold medalist at 200 meters) 

China: Ma Long, table tennis (five-time gold medalist) and Feng Yu, artistic swimming 

Eritrea: Biniam Girmay, cycling (first Black rider to win a Tour de France stage) and Christina Rach, swimming (16 years old) 

France: Melina Robert-Michon, athletics (discus), Florent Manaudou, swimming (London gold medalist in the 50-meter freestyle and three-time Olympic silver medalist) 

Greece: Antigoni Ntrismpioti, athletics (race walker) and Giannis Antetokounmpo, basketball (two-time NBA MVP, 2021 NBA champion with the Milwaukee Bucks) 

Puerto Rico: Jasmine Camacho-Quinn, athletics (Tokyo gold medalist in the 100-meter hurdles) and Sebastian Rivera, wrestling 

Qatar: Shahd Ashraf, athletics (women’s 100 meters) and Mutaz Barshim, athletics (Tokyo co-gold medalist in the high jump with Gianmarco Tamberi, who is one of Italy’s flag bearers) 

Refugee Team: Yahya Al Ghotany, taekwondo (born in Syria) and Cindy Ngamba, boxing (born in Cameroon) 

Ukraine: Elina Svitolina, tennis (Tokyo bronze medalist in women’s singles and three-time Grand Slam semifinalist) and Mykhailo Romanchuk, swimmer (Tokyo silver medalist in the 1,500-meter freestyle and bronze medalist in the 800-meter freestyle) 

United States: Coco Gauff, tennis (U.S. Open singles champion, French Open champion doubles champion) and LeBron James, basketball (four-time NBA MVP, four-time NBA champion, career scoring leader).

Credit - AP

All the NOCs (National Olympic Committees) are coming through in French alphabetical order. Australia and the United States though, will parade at the end, just ahead of the hosts France!

The first country represented in the parade is Greece followed by the 37-member Refugee Olympic Team.

The ceremony begins with a montage of French football legend Zinedine Zidane carrying the Olympic flame. 

France President Emmanuel Macron and IOC President Thomas Bach present at the Trocadero which will be last destination of the river parade. 

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It’s an absolute honour. New kind of feeling for the first timers [in the opening ceremony],” says Narang. 

“We have put in our best. We have done what we could. Now its upto the athletes to do their best,” he adds.

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“It’s a great recognition from the IOA to have chosen me. I have visualised this moment for a very long time,” says India’s flag bearer Achanta Sharath Kamal

‘It’s not every year this happens. Everybody wants a medal. Everybody plays their best at the Olympics...they will be at their best,” reckons the co-flag bearer P.V. Sindhu

“People always ask that [three consecutive medals]. I take it very positively. ‘Why can’t I do it?’,” Sindhu adds. 

The Paris 2024 Olympics opening ceremony will take place on the Seine river in Paris. The final event will take place at the Trocadero gardens in front of the Eiffel Tower.

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Don’t be shocked if you don’t spot members of the Indian men’s hockey team during the Opening Ceremony. The team has decided to focus on its opening group stage encounter against New Zealand which is set to start in under 24 hours from now. 

Check out the hockey opener preview below:

Where to watch the Paris 2024 Olympics opening ceremony?

The Paris 2024 Olympics opening ceremony will be telecast live on Sports18 and Sports18 HD. The live streaming of the same will also be available on JioCinema.

What time will the Paris 2024 Olympics opening ceremony start?

The Paris 2024 Olympics opening ceremony will start at 11 PM IST.

Welcome to Sportstar’s live coverage of the Paris 2024 Opening Ceremony. Stay tuned for live updates and news from the event which is set to begin at the Austerlitz bridge.