History will be made in Paris on Friday when more than 10,000 of the world’s best athletes gather for a never-before-seen opening ceremony that will highlight the most iconic Parisian landmarks.
The 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris marks a return to normalcy after the COVID-19 pandemic forced the Games in Tokyo to be delayed until 2021. Friday’s celebrations will set the tone as the parade of athletes makes its way down the Seine River by boat.
Spectators view the Eiffel Tower and Olympic rings along the Seine River on July 21, 2024, in Paris. (Christian Petersen/Getty Images)
It is the first time the opening ceremony will take place outside a stadium.
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Read below for information on the 2024 Paris Olympics opening ceremony.
Who will be there?
Approximately 10,500 athletes from 206 National Olympic Committees (NOCs) will take part in Friday’s festivities. More than 90 boats will carry these athletes on the Seine as spectators line up to watch. According to the Olympics website, larger NOCs will have their own boat while smaller ones will share a vessel.
About 220,000 invited and security-screened spectators are expected to fill the upper tiers of the Seine’s banks, and an additional 104,000 paying spectators will watch from the lower riverside and around the Trocadéro plaza.
Seats for spectators are seen on the Pont du Carrousel, above the Seine River, with the Eiffel Tower in the background on July 23, 2024, as Paris prepares to host the Olympic Games. (Remon Haazen/Getty Images)
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What is the route?
The parade will follow the 3.7-mile stretch of the Seine beginning at the Austerlitz Bridge beside the Jardin des Plantes. Along the way, they will see up close some of Paris’ most historic landmarks, including Notre-Dame and the Louvre, before ending at the Iena Bridge, which links the Eiffel Tower on the left bank of the Seine to the Trocadéro district on the right bank.
How to watch
Live coverage of the opening ceremony is set to begin at 1:30 p.m. ET and airs on NBC and streams on Peacock and NBC Olympic platforms.
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Leading the way
U.S. Open winner Coco Gauff and NBA star LeBron James will lead Team USA as the flag bearer in Friday’s celebrations. In what will be her first Olympics, Gauff is the first American tennis player to carry the flag.
U.S. Olympians Marcos Giron, Emma Navarro, Tommy Paul, Danielle Collins, Taylor Harry Fritz, Coco Gauff, Desirae Krajczyk, Rajeev Ram, Jessica Pegula and Christopher Eubanks celebrate Gauff being named as a U.S. flag bearer on July 23, 2024, in Paris. (Joe Scarnici/Getty Images for USOPC)
“I’m not putting too much pressure on it because I really want to fully indulge in the experience,” she said of her Olympic debut. “Hopefully I can have the experience multiple times in my lifetime, [but] I’ll treat it as a once-in-a-lifetime experience.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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