OLYMPICS NEWS - Unique, incomparable, exceptional... There aren't enough superlatives to describe the magical moment the world will witness today on 26 July, the opening date of the Paris 2024 Games.
The world's biggest sporting event, the Summer Olympics are the stage for legendary sporting moments every four years.
The opening ceremony of such an event has to live up to the stakes, and as far as Paris 2024 is concerned, it is clear that the bar will be set very high, even higher than anything that has been done before.
With its unprecedented concept (the Seine will replace the usual track, and the quays will become spectator stands), the opening ceremony of the Paris 2024 Games is sure to leave its mark on history and on people's minds. In short, this event is simply unmissable, for a number of reasons.
A moment out of time in figures
With family, friends or on your own, on the banks of the Seine, in France, around the world or on your sofa, there are plenty of reasons to watch the opening ceremony of the Paris 2024 Games tonight, Friday 26 July at 20:00. The figures below will convince (if need be) the last undecided.
1: Paris 2024 marks a milestone in the history of the Olympic Games by moving the ceremony out of a stadium. The first time ever!
4 : in hours, the total duration of this opening ceremony directed by Thomas Jolly.
5: Flag bearer alongside Florent Manaudou, Mélina Robert-Michon will be the fifth Frenchwoman to have this privilege in the history of the Olympic Games. She follows in the footsteps of Christine Caron (1968), Marie-José Perec (1996), Laura Flessel (2012) and Clarisse Agbegnenou (2021).
5: the number of delegations with a single representative: Belize, Liechtenstein, Nauru, Somalia and Tuvalu.
6: the length in kilometres of the parade and the live show orchestrated by Thomas Jolly and his teams. It's a huge challenge that Paris 2024 will take up brilliantly after many months of preparation. Unprecedented!
12: the number of artistic displays throughout the show, highlighting French and Parisian heritage. To be discovered during the ceremony!
54.1: By deciding to move the Opening Ceremony away from a sports arena, the IOC had to amend Article 54.1 of its Olympic Charter. The reference to the ‘Olympic stadium’ for the first evening of the Games has been removed in favour of the less restricted notion of ‘site of the opening ceremony’. It now remains to be seen whether the future Organising Committees will make the bold choice of holding a ceremony outside a stadium or not.
80: giant screens will be set up along the Seine for the occasion.
85: the number of boats that will be mobilised to transport all the delegations along the 6 kilometres of the Seine.
Image: Olympics.com
100: a century has passed since the last Olympic Games were held in Paris. Back then, it was the Stade Yves-du-Manoir that hosted the opening ceremony.
326,000: the number of spectators on the banks of the Seine on 26 July. That's 222,000 free ticket holders on the raised quays of the Seine, and 104,000 paying ticket holders on the lower quays. In its aim to open up the Games, this concept of free entry for as many people as possible is perfectly in line with what Paris 2024 wants to put in place. All in all, this ceremony will go down in history because of the attendance, which will far exceed anything that has been achieved so far.
To read the full article and much more other Olympic news on the Olympic games official website, Olympics.com, click here.
‘We bring you the latest Garden Route, Hessequa, Karoo news’
