The official account of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games posted a post about his appearance: “The Olympic flame that arrived by mistake at the Stade de France must be brought back to Paris. Thousands of athletes and spectators are waiting for it on the banks of the Seine. Thank you Zinedine Zidane.”
Then it was the turn of the Argentine delegation, which had the volleyball player Luciano DeCecco and the hockey player Rocio Sanchez Moccia as standard bearers.
Sánchez Moccia is the captain of The lionesswith whom he played more than 250 international matches, three Olympic Games and won two silver medals: first in London 2012 and then in Tokyo 2021.
De Cecco, for his part, is the captain of the national volleyball team and won the historic bronze medal in Tokyo 2020. This will be his fourth Olympic participation.
Some of the 136 Argentine athletes who will participate in 25 disciplines appeared on the River Seine, after the Saudi Arabian delegation, with the typical color and joy that national representatives have and singing “Come on, come on, Argentina.”
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One of the emotional moments came when the historic Notre Dame Cathedral was honored, with emotional background music and a great performance by several dancers.
The cathedral, which was built between 1163 and 1345, is currently undergoing repairs following a fire in 2019 that destroyed two-thirds of the roof and caused the central spire by Viollet-le-Duc to fall. The fire may have been caused by carelessness during ongoing construction work.
During this part of the ceremony, a masked fencer carried the Olympic torch through various parts of Paris and the preparation of the gold, silver and bronze medals to be awarded in the different disciplines was also seen.
Then came one of the strongest images, as the queen consort of France until 1793, Marie Antoinette, had an impressive and shocking appearance.
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Marie Antoinette, who held this position in royalty after marrying Louis XVI, died by guillotine when she was about 38 years old due to the fury of the French people during the crisis that the country was going through at the end of the 18th century.
She was introduced with her decapitated, holding her own head while the word “liberty” appeared, the first word in France’s motto, which is: “Liberty, Fraternity and Equality.”
The historic painting “Liberty Leading the People” by Eugene Delacroix, painted in 1830 and kept at the Louvre Museum in Paris, was performed earlier. At the same time, the heavy metal band Gojira was playing.
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Then it was the turn of the Minionsthose friendly characters from the Despicable Me movie saga, who caused a sensation when they appeared next to the Mona Lisa.
The yellow characters, who rose to fame for being assistants to Gru, the protagonist of Despicable Me, starred in a video of just over two minutes in which they do various sports in a submarine and steal the Mona Lisa, the most famous painting in the world, which was made by Leonardo Da Vinci at the beginning of the 16th century.
Finally, the submarine ends up flooding and explodes (don’t worry, all the Minions ended up alive) and the Mona Lisa, that work of art full of mysteries even half a millennium after its creation, floats to the surface of the Seine River.
The Algerian delegation threw roses into the River Seine during the opening ceremony of the Paris Olympics in honour of a massacre that took place almost 63 years ago. This act was carried out by the Algerians in repudiation of the “Paris Massacre” that took place on 17 October 1961.
That day was the day of a bloody repression during the Algerian War of Independence by the Parisian police, then led by Maurice Papon, against Algerians in the Parisian capital. The security forces opened fire on the demonstrators and killed some 345 people.
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The official speech
The President of the International Olympic Committee, Thomas Bachgave his speech during the opening ceremony and stressed: “What better place than Paris to share with the world the magic of the Olympic Games.”
Bach, 70, who was born in Germany, stressed that “finally the time has come” and thanked the “thousands of volunteers for their commitment. Their smiles will make us fall in love with Paris and France even more.”
For its part, Tony EstanguetParis 2024 President said: “It is a great honour to welcome back after 100 years, the last time we held the Olympic Games,” and continued: “It is certainly a great responsibility to be able to carry on this kind of legacy. That is why we have put our hearts into all of this.”
Estanguet, who competed in canoeing in the slalom category and won three gold medals in different editions, confessed: “It is undoubtedly a great responsibility to be able to carry on this type of legacy. That is why we have put our hearts into all this. We love the Games and the efforts of so many people around them.”
An Olympic night full of stars
Rafael Nadal, Nadia Comaneci, Carl Lewis y Serena Williams They starred in an image that will go down in sports history, as they shared a boat ride with the Olympic torch on the River Seine.
Nadal (Spain) won two gold medals; Comaneci (Romania) five gold medals, three silver and one bronze; Lewis (USA) nine gold and one silver; and Williams (USA) took four first places. Zidane had previously appeared, handing over the torch to Nadal.
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They all took part in a boat trip along the Seine River that will be remembered for decades, before handing the flame over to former French tennis player and current director of Roland Garros Amélie Mauresmo, who ran alongside several athletes with the sacred flame.
Finally, they lit the fire of Olympia in a brazier that was turned into a hot air balloon, in homage to the first balloon in history, and will be flying over all of Paris during the Olympic Games.
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Once the brazier is lit, Celine Dion He thrilled everyone by singing during the closing of the opening ceremony, from none other than the Eiffel Tower.
Dion, 56, performed for the first time since revealing she suffers from stiff-person syndrome, a condition that affects the muscles of the trunk and abdomen, which become increasingly rigid and enlarged. This eventually causes stiffness that affects the entire body over time.
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This is why Dion caused great excitement among people around the world who were watching the impressive opening ceremony of the Olympic Games, which took place in various parts of Paris, mainly on the River Seine and at the Eiffel Tower. From there, and with an impressive staging, the Canadian sang Edith Piaf’s Ode to Love.
