Spectacle on the Seine - the 33rd Summer Olympic Games are open! VIDEO/PHOTO

The opening ceremony was unique because, unlike the usual program at the Olympic stadium, this time it took place on the river Seine and the Trocadéro square with a nautical parade preceded by hours of tension, due to rain and sabotage of the French railway network.

From the Osterlitz bridge to the Trocadéro, 6,800 athletes and 205 delegations, aboard 85 boats, made their way down the river during a parade and ceremony marking the official start of the Olympics, which will last until August 11.

Greece, the country of ancient Olympism, opened the parade, which, according to tradition, was closed by the delegation of the host country, in front of 320,000 spectators on the stands along the banks of the Seine and on the bridges.

Tanjug/AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino

Each delegation on the ship traveled six kilometers and along the way they could admire the illuminated Parisian monuments - Notre Dame Cathedral, Louvre, Tuileries Park, Concorde Square and the Eiffel Tower.

Among them were the representatives of Serbia, whose flag bearers were Dušan Mandić and Maja Ognjenović. Our Olympic team consists of 113 athletes who compete in 15 sports.
 

 

In the musical part of the ceremony, among others, the French singer from Mali, Aya Nakamura, the American pop star Lady Gaga and, at the end of the program, the Canadian Celine Dion, who performed at the ceremony for the second time after Atlanta in 1996, took part.

The honor of lighting the Olympic flame went to judoka Teddy Riner and athlete Marie-José Perec, after the torch had previously passed through the hands of Zinedine Zidane, Rafael Nadal, Nadia Comăneci, Carl Lewis, Amelie Moresmo, Tony Parker and many others.

 

About 100 officials were present at the ceremony, including 85 presidents and prime ministers, who were received earlier today at the Élysée Palace by French President Emmanuel Macron. President of Serbia, Aleksandar Vučić, was among the guests.

The entire event was secured by 45,000 policemen and gendarmes, as well as 10,000 soldiers.

From July 26 to August 11, 329 events in 32 sports will be held in Paris, as well as in 16 other cities in France and in distant Tahiti, in which 10,714 athletes will participate.