Paris Olympics 2024 Opening Ceremony Updates:
This year's Olympic Games are being held in France's capital, Paris. The grand inauguration of the Paris Olympics 2024 took place on July 26 and will conclude on August 11. All eyes were on the extravagant opening ceremony held by the Seine River.
Badminton ace PV Sindhu and table tennis veteran Achanta Sharath Kamal, who is appearing in his fifth Olympics, led the Indian team at the opening ceremony. They are the first athletes from their respective sports to be flag bearers for India at the Olympic opening ceremony. With this spectacular start, the Paris Olympics 2024 have officially begun.
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1:27 AM:
India's schedule on the first day of Paris Olympics (Saturday, July 27).
Badminton
7:10 PM – Men's Singles Group Match: Lakshya Sen vs Kevin Cordón (Guatemala) 8:00 PM – Men's Doubles Group Match: Satwiksairaj Rankireddy & Chirag Shetty vs Lucas Corvee & Ronan Labar (France) 11:50 PM – Women's Doubles Group Match: Ashwini Ponnappa & Tanisha Crasto vs Kim So-Yeong & Kong Hee-Yong (Korea)
Boxing
12:05 AM – Women's 54kg Preliminary Round: Preeti Pawar vs Thi Kim Anh Vo (Vietnam)
Hockey
9:00 PM – Pool B Match: India vs New Zealand
Rowing
12:30 PM – Men's Single Sculls: Balraj Panwar
Table Tennis
7:15 PM – Men's Singles First Round: Harmeet Desai vs Zaid Abo (Yemen)
Tennis
3:30 PM – Men's Doubles First Round: Rohan Bopanna & N. Sriram Balaji vs Edouard Roger-Vasselin & Fabien Reboul (France)
Shooting
12:30 PM – 10m Air Rifle Mixed Team Qualification: Sandeep Singh / Elavenil Valarivan; Arjun Babuta/ Ramita Jindal 2:00 PM – 10m Air Pistol Men's Qualification: Arjun Singh Cheema & Sarabjot Singh 4:00 PM – 10m Air Pistol Women's Qualification: Manu Bhaker & Rhythm Sangwan
Medal Event (if qualified) * Bronze Medal – 10m Air Rifle Mixed Team – 2:00 PM * Gold Medal – 10m Air Rifle Mixed Team – 2:30 PM
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1:25 AM:
As the host nation of the Los Angeles 2028 Games, the USA was near the end of the floating parade, with France, the current host, concluding the parade.
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1:09 AM:
The Serbian team also participated in the opening ceremony parade, although their star tennis player Novak Djokovic was not spotted.
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1:02 AM:
The Pakistani contingent, led by javelin thrower Arshad Nadeem, also took part in the parade. Their boat carried seven athletes, including three women.
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12:58 AM:
Renowned French rapper Rim'K surprised fans with his special performance during the Paris Olympics opening ceremony.
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12:16 AM:
Indian badminton star PV Sindhu and table tennis legend Sharath Kamal led the Indian team onto the boat parade, marking their presence as spectators cheered on. A total of 78 members participated in the parade, while 117 athletes from India will compete in the Paris Olympics.
Source: aajtak
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12:12 AM:
Amid the parade and rain, Egypt's turn came up, soon to be followed by the Indian team.
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12:03 AM:
Cuba took the 52nd spot in the floating parade, with India ranked 84th. Meanwhile, opera singer Marina Viotti and Aya Nakamura performed.
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12:00 AM:
At the Tokyo Olympics, India won a total of 7 medals—its best performance in Olympic history, including its first-ever athletics gold by Neeraj Chopra. In Paris, 112 Indian athletes will compete in 69 medal events across 16 sports. Five reserve athletes will also be in Paris.
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11:53 PM:
The medals offered at the Paris Olympics feature pieces of iron from the Eiffel Tower. These pieces were removed during a 20th-century renovation and preserved. Once impurities are removed, the remaining iron is almost pure and extraordinarily strong.
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11:49 PM:
The floating parade featured an amazing performance by artists. Around 80 performers showcased the famous French cabaret dance 'Can-Can.'
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11:35 PM:
Following Lady Gaga's show, the floating parade resumed with athletes from countries like Bangladesh and Belgium participating, followed by China.
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11:30 PM:
A memorable performance by Lady Gaga took place during the floating parade. She sang 'Mon truc en plumes,' a song made famous by the late French actress Gigi Jeanmare, who passed away in 2020 at the age of 96.
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11:20 PM:
As the host nation, France will bring the parade to a close, with the US team coming in right before them due to their hosting of the Los Angeles 2028 Olympic Games. Other countries participated in alphabetical order.
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11:15 PM:
The ceremony, held by the Seine River, featured athletes on boats instead of the traditional march on an athletic track. Led by Greece, the parade saw the Refugee Olympic Team with 37 members and Afghanistan following in the lineup.
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10:55 PM:
At the Tokyo Olympics 2020, the USA won 39 golds, among 113 medals in total. They are expected to perform strongly again in Paris, with tennis player Coco Gauff and basketball star LeBron James as flag bearers. They were seen in white blazers and blue denims.
India has sent a contingent of 117 athletes to the Paris Olympics. Half of them belong to three sports: Athletics (29), Shooting (21), and Hockey (19). Of the 69 athletes, 40 are making their Olympic debut. Male athletes from India wore a kurta bandh-gala set, while female athletes wore matching saris representing the Indian tricolor, designed by Tarun Tahiliani. PM Narendra Modi has also sent his best wishes to the Indian team.
For the first time in 128 years since the Olympics began in Athens in 1896, the opening ceremony was not held inside a stadium. The countries' traditional parade took place by the Seine River, which flows through the heart of Paris.
Over 10,000 Olympic athletes paraded along the Seine River on nearly 100 boats, passing by iconic landmarks such as Notre Dame, Pont des Arts, and Pont Neuf. The floating parade began at Austerlitz Bridge, next to Jardin des Plantes, and concluded at Trocadero. French theater director and actor Thomas Jolly is overseeing the artistic direction of the Paris 2024 Olympic and Paralympic ceremonies.
Star Performances
The opening ceremony featured performances by Celine Dion, Lady Gaga, Aya Nakamura, and Gojira. Dion, who has been recovering from Stiff Person Syndrome, performed for the first time in years, having had to cancel several live shows previously. Dion is famously known for singing
