After an opening ceremony in the pouring rain, with the inaugural show on the Seine lasting approximately 4 hours, The 2024 Paris Olympics kick off today. It starts at 8.30 with Badminton, while to see the first Italian athletes in action chasing medals you will have to wait until 9 with the 10m air rifle shooting (qualifications with Barbara Gambaro-Danilo Dennis Sollazzo).
Today’s program, Saturday 27 July
In the busy calendar of events, Chiara Pellacani and Elena Bertocchi light up the day in the dives in the final of the three-meter synchronized springboard. The spotlight is on cycling: Elisa Longo Borghini, Alberto Bettiol and Filippo Ganna are chasing glory in the road cycling time trials. In fencing, Italy is aiming for the podium with the women’s épée (with Rossella Fiamingo, Alberta Santuccio and Giulia Rizzi) and the men’s sabre (with Luca Curatoli, Luigi Samele and Michele Gallo). In judo, we start with the -60 kg and -48 kg categories: on the tatami Andrea Carlino and Assunta Scutto.
In the evening, swimming: Marco De Tullio and Matteo Lamberti dream of the 400-meter freestyle final, eyes fixed on the two Italian 4×100-meter freestyle relay teams.
The ceremony
The ceremony ended with the lighting of the brazier by Teddy Riner and Marie-José Perec: the judoka and the French athletics legend – at the end of the final relay that involved among others Zinedine Zidane, Rafa Nadal, Nadia Comaneci, Amelie Mauresmo and Tony Parker – are the last two torchbearers. The brazier, a ring of flame 7 meters in diameter, is topped by a 30-meter-high and 22-meter-diameter hot air balloon that soars in the sky of Paris.
The ceremony, attended by around 300,000 people, began with a video starring Zinedine Zidane – in the clip he runs through Paris with the torch, gets on the metro and hands the torch over to three kids who then take it by boat to where the Olympic cauldron will be lit – and she got hot with Lady Gagafirst star on stage. Dressed in an elegant black outfit, the American singer re-proposed Zizi Jeanmaire’s iconic look, while performing ‘My thing in Feathers’ in a tribute to the world of French cabaret and music hall, through an emblematic title of the 60s.
So, fire and flames from the Conciergerie in Paris for the next live performance. Playing are the Gojiraa French metal band, among the most popular in the world, who gave the audience an incredible performance. So, the music of Aya Nakamurathe pop and rap star of Malian origin who performed with his lyrics in ‘international’ French, criticized by purists.
In the distance, the bells of Notre Dame Cathedral rang out for the first time since the fire on April 15, 2019. Restoration work has since begun, and is now 90% complete on the cathedral, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Closing the show, theCeline Dion’s spine-chilling performance.
The delegations
The parade of 8,700 athletes from 205 delegations took place using 84 boats, as well as 99 boats for logistics operations, which, starting from the Pont d’Austerlitz, next to the Jardin des Plantes, followed the course of the river for six kilometers.
Tamberi loses faith in the Seine
Before 9 pm, here is Italy with the flag bearers Gimbo Tamberi and Arianna Errigo, with the applause of the President of the Republic Sergio Mattarella. “It was incredibly cool and then the finale was beautiful with the Eiffel Tower and the five rings. What a team, there is a unique enthusiasm, envied by all the other boats”, said Tamberi who lost his wedding ring in the Seine. On the Italy boat some athletes, especially the Italian water polo team, noticed: “When you lose a gold, you find another”. Tamberi has been married since September 2022 to Chiara Bontempi who watched the ceremony from the banks of the Seine.
“It was wonderful to share it with everyone. Despite the rain? Despite the hair and makeup, but that’s how it went. It was unique. As unique as this team is,” echoed Errigo.
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