AFrom the stadium to the heart of the metropolis: The opening ceremony of the 2024 Summer Games in Paris will take place in the middle of the city on the Seine. The organizers officially announced this on Monday. On July 26, 2024, athletes, officials and other dignitaries will sail across the river between the Pont d’Austerlitz and the Pont d’Iena on more than 160 boats.
The course of the celebration is to be reversed. Instead of a show and the subsequent invasion of the nations, the athletes should first be driven in a boat parade under the Eiffel Tower, where the opening will then take place. From the Jardins du Trocadéro, the athletes could enjoy the opening ceremony from the large grandstands. “The river, its bridges and the iconic monuments of the capital will serve as the backdrop for a unique spectacle that shows the best of Paris to the world, with hundreds of millions of TV viewers,” announced the organizers.
For the closing ceremony on August 11th, the organizers chose the Trocadero park with a view of the Eiffel Tower, thereby breaking with the tradition of having the ceremonies take place in the Olympic Stadium. They are expecting 600,000 spectators at the opening alone – and thus the “biggest ceremony” in Olympic history. Despite some security concerns.
“Today is an outstanding day,” said Tony Estanguet, Olympic Canoeing Champion (2000 and 2004) and President of the Organizing Committee: “There are so many emotions, so much enthusiasm.” The six-kilometer route at the opening ceremony leads to landmarks such as Notre Dame, the Louvre or the Pont Alexandre III. The cost of the celebrations is not yet known.
Paris will host the Summer Games for the third time since 1900 and 1924. This time the athletes should fight for the medals “in the heart of the city”, as Estanguet likes to emphasize. Competitions are also planned in the shadow of the Eiffel Tower, on the Place de la Concorde or in front of the Palace of Versailles.
.
