The most highly anticipated sporting event of the year, the Paris2024 Olympic Games, will get underway in Paris on July 26 at 1930 CET (23:00 IST) with an opening ceremony that is not only said to be the largest so far of any Olympic Games but also the most unique.

According to a press statement issued by the Organising Committee of the Games, the opening ceremony will take place on the Seine River and will feature artistic performances on boats that will travel on the river for 6 km.

The statement adds that the Opening Ceremony will highlight the natural light of a setting sun and will showcase the best athletes from around the world who would be gathered for the Games

Thus the 33rd Olympiad will commence on water and will feature 13 artistic tableaux to showcase French heritage and numerous monuments alongnthe River Seine, while thousands of athletes are welcomed by hundreds of thousands of sporting fans lining up along both the banks of the Seine.

Tony Estanguet

The event will commence from Pont d’Austerlitz and head westwards on the river moving towards Trocadéro, passing by the most beautiful monuments of Paris like Notre-Dame de Paris, le Louvre, le Pont des Arts and Musée Orsay. Incidentally, these very sites will then welcome the atheletes over the next 16 days for various competitions.

“We are very happy to launch an opening ceremony that will illustrate in the best manner the meeting of the sport and the city. With the natural light of a setting sun, the event will become even more subliminal with a truly poetic dimension, inviting the athletes and the people to appreciate the natural beauty of the City of Lights,” says Tony Estanguet, President of Paris 2024.