Olympics opening ceremony latest: Parade of athletes begins on the Seine River
Visitors are seen on a bridge ahead of the opening ceremony for the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris, France, Friday, July 26, 2024. (Zhang Yuwei/Pool Photo via AP)
PARIS (AP) — The 2024 Paris Olympics opening ceremony is underway after a rough start to the summer games, with suspected acts of sabotage targeting France’s flagship high-speed rail network and rainy skies over the Seine river, where athletes are set to parade.
Snoop Dog is watching with Simone Biles’ mom
Snoop Dogg, who earlier Friday ran with the torch, appeared on the NBC broadcast of the opening ceremony with the family of Simone Biles.
The gymnast could not participate in the opening ceremony because she’s preparing to compete on Sunday.
Nellie Biles used the opportunity to tell Snoop Dogg they he had met the family before, which was news to the musical artist.
“I didn’t know this, Nellie,” he said with surprise. Biles’ mother than recounted an encounter in 2010 in Times Square when they asked the artist for a photo with the budding gymnast, “and you said ‘2 minutes. One, two.’ And then you were gone.”
Snoop Dogg laughed and Nellie Biles then tried to Facetime her daughter to give Simone the chance to speak to Snoop.
It’s raining again
Rain ponchos and umbrellas are out again in the stands as it continues to drizzle.
One man walked up to a volunteer asking: “Do you guys have ponchos to give out?”
Despite that, the mood in the stands is lively and people are dancing to music echoing over the river.
Fans further down the Seine watch on TVs waiting for the parade
Fans in the sitting sections down the route of the opening ceremony had to watch the parade on large screens until the boats carrying the athletes arrived at their location.
The fans reacted to what they were seeing with claps and cheers. It rained during moments of the parade, prompting fans to take out their umbrellas and rain coats.
NBC touts opening ceremony’s commercial-free hour
If you’re watching the Olympics in the U.S., you won’t have to contend with a commercial for the first hour.
NBC says this is the first time the U.S. broadcaster has had a commercial-free hour for the opening ceremony. Instead of ads, brand logos for six sponsors are rotating through the hour.
Why are the nations out of order? Well, they’re not
In case you’re wondering why the nations aren’t coming into the opening ceremony in alphabetical order, they are.
Sort of.
Greece, per Olympic tradition as the originator of the ancient games, almost always enters the ceremony first (the most recent exception was 2004, when it hosted the Athens Games).
The Refugee Team enters second now, and then it shifts to alphabetical order — that is, the French alphabet.
And the final three nations to enter the ceremony will have nothing to do with the alphabet. Australia goes second-to-last because it’ll host the 2032 Brisbane Games, the U.S. goes next to last because it’ll host the 2028 Los Angeles Games, and host France will be the final nation to hit the River Seine.
Lady Gaga’s cabaret show was pre-recorded
Singer and actress Lady Gaga performed a cabaret number on a golden staircase beside the Seine, emerging from behind pink feathers — an act pre-recorded and then shown on the television broadcasts.
Lady Gaga sang the French song “Mon truc en plumes” (“My thing in feathers”) by Zizi Jeanmaire. She was accompanied by 10 dancers and 17 musicians — all wearing costumes from House of Dior, which is owned by a major Olympic sponsor.
Refugee team captures Stephen Curry’s attention
The Refugee team — 37 athletes from 11 countries of origin, representing the world’s displaced population of over 100 million people — was the second team in the procession of athletes.
And it has already captured the attention of U.S. basketball star Stephen Curry.
“It shines a light,” Curry said. “It’s an amazing opportunity to be on an amazing stage. To compete, glad that there’s space for those athletes to come represent themselves. I’m going to be a fan. I’m going to watch all the sports, all the events and I’m going to watch them, too.”
The refugee team was created by the IOC for the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro to allow athletes to keep competing, even if they have been forced to leave their home countries.
There were 10 refugee athletes in Rio, then 29 at the Tokyo Games three years ago.