26-July-2024″ The Paris Olympics 2024 is officially launched with the Opening Ceremony in the French capital
It is the first time in the history of the games that the ceremony was not held inside the Olympic Stadium of the host city.
Although this is the official opening, the first events of the game took place on Wednesday, with the men’s football tournament.
An Opening Ceremony of firsts
The organisers of the Opening Ceremony were determined to make the Paris 2024 event a unique spectacle and they certainly did that.
The celebration of the city was the desire, rather than the traditional focus on the Olympic Stadium.
The red carpet, the Seine setting and the elevated Cauldron to finish were all firsts for the Olympics.
It has certainly set a new precedent for the games going forward, having expanded beyond a stadium to a huge part of one of the world’s biggest cities.
Emmanuel Macron declares the Games ‘open’!
With no fanfare the 25th French president simply declares that the Paris Games are “open”
International Olympic Committee President Thomas Bach addresses the crowd
“You have come to Paris as athletes, now you are Olympians. Now, we are all part of an event that unites the world,” Bach said.
“There is no Global South or Global North. We all respect each other. We all care for each other. We live in solidarity with each other.
“In a world torn apart by wars and conflicts, it is through this Olympics that we can all come together
A celebration of the European Union ensues
The France boat is followed by boats with dancers performing on a floor illuminated with the flag of the European Union.
A clear political message from the French. The music that accompanies this segment is a selection of the best of European artists from the 1980s and 1990s.
Fesitival’ is the next theme
A French rapper briefly has the stage before a catwalk is glided by a series of models and dancers in front of a DJ taking control of the event’s sound system.
New Zealand are the latest nation to emerge at the back of the flotilla.
500 dancers sychronise
Dancers, including from the Paris fire brigade, continue the 500-strong performance that began on the walls of Notre Dame.
The masked torch bearer returns to the streets to join the show before a solo performance takes centre stage for a moment reflecting the opening on the Paris ballet.
As Israel’s national football team took the field for their opening game of the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris on Thursday, their national anthem was greeted with boos from sections of the audience
Israel’s 88 athletes are among more than 10,500 sportspeople from some 200 countries who will participate in the Olympics, that formally kick off with the opening ceremony on Friday.
In Paris, Israeli athletes will receive round-the-clock protection from a specialist elite unit of French police, in addition to their own enhanced security measures
The country’s participation in the games amid its brutal war on Gaza, in which more than 39,000 people have been killed, has provoked criticism of Olympics organisers, who have a long history of banning nations deemed to have indulged in acts that contravene the spirit of the games.
Two countries will be absent from this year’s Olympics: Russia and Belarus, as a result of the ongoing war in Ukraine.
Paris reports that some railways have been ‘targeted’
Hours before the opening ceremony of the Paris Olympics, French rail company SNCF said its high-speed rail network had been targeted by “blockade actions” aimed at paralyzing the system.
Several train stations have been damaged, particularly in the west, north and east of Paris, and long queues have already formed at stations such as Montparnasse, which serves areas west of the capital.
Transport Minister Patrice Vergriete strongly condemned the “criminal acts” which he said were affecting people’s holiday plans.
SNCF said that it was set on fire in those areas where it was intended to damage its facilities.
A number of trains were canceled and the SNCF warned that the situation could last “at least for the weekend while repairs are carried out”.
A demonstrator demanding the boycott of Israel from the Olympics demonstrates with a poster reading ‘No Games for genocidal, boycott Israel’ outside the Paris 2024 Organising Oommittee headquarters on April 30, 2024, in Saint-Denis, France [Alexander Turnbull/AP
Which countries have been banned from the Olympics before?
A handful of countries have been banned from competing in the Olympics.
The first ban came in the 1920 Summer Olympics held in Antwerp, Belgium where Germany, Austria, Hungary, Bulgaria and Turkey were banned due to their role and involvement in World War I.
Germany was also banned from the 1924 games in Paris as an extension of the previous ban and the ramifications of World War I.
The 1948 Summer Olympics held in London saw the ban of Germany and Japan as a consequence of their role in World War II and the devastation it wrought
South Africa was banned from the Olympic Games from 1964 to 1992 due to racial segregation as a result of the apartheid regime.
In 1972, Zimbabwe, then known as Rhodesia, was banned from the games in Munich due to international pressure and protests against the country’s policies of racial segregation.
In 1972, Zimbabwe, then known as Rhodesia, was banned from the games in Munich due to international pressure and protests against the country’s policies of racial segregation.
In 2000, Afghanistan was banned from the Melbourne games due to the ruling Taliban’s stance on women.
This year, with the Taliban back in power in Kabul, Afghan athletes are participating — but not under the Taliban’s flag. Instead, they will compete under the red, green and black flag of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, which the Taliban overthrew in 2021
Kuwait was suspended by the International Olympic Committee in October 2015 due to government interference in the country’s Olympic committee. As a result, Kuwaiti athletes participated in the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics as independent Olympic athletes under the Olympic flag.
