The long-awaited 2024 Paris Olympics is finally here, with the Summer Games commencing on July 26th! Paris, the host city for the first time in a century, is set to captivate audiences worldwide. From the grand opening ceremony on Friday, July 26, 2024, to the closing on Sunday, August 11, 2024, approximately 10,000 elite athletes and an impressive 10 million visitors will flock to Paris for the 33rd Summer Olympic Games.
The main athletic events will be held at the Stade de France, the country’s largest stadium, which hosts its national teams on the northern outskirts of Paris. However, 15 Olympic and 11 Paralympic venues will be in existing buildings across the city.
Opening Ceremony
The Olympics opening ceremony, scheduled for Friday, July 26, 2024, at 6:30 pm GMT, is set to make history as the first-ever outdoor parade ceremony that will see more than 10,000 athletes, dozens of influential political figures and thousands of performers pull out all the stops to mark the start of the 2024 summer games in Paris.
Athletes will trade the traditional introduction on a stage for scenic Seine River cruises in a first for the 2024 Summer Olympics. Each of the 91 national delegations will have a float in the parade, ending in front of the Trocadéro, where there will be performers and the ceremonial lighting of the Olympic cauldron. However, the Games will kick off before the lighting of the Olympic cauldron.
Performances and Entertainment
Most of the scheduled entertainment for the Olympics and Paralympic ceremonies has been kept under wraps. Ceremony artistic director Thomas Jolly has said he wants to “show France in all of its diversity” but has otherwise stayed mum on specifics, telling the Associated Press, “All I can tell you is that it will be very meaningful for the artists that will perform.”
A total of three thousand artists—including several hundred dancers—are set to participate in the opening and closing ceremonies. Lady Gaga has become the latest superstar rumoured to perform at the ceremony after she was reportedly spotted landing in Paris this week. Celine Dion and Taylor Swift have also gone through the rumour mill. Many are expecting Aya Nakamura, the most prominent French singer in the world, to perform as well at the opening ceremony this year.
The Games
While the Olympic Opening Ceremony is the celebratory commencement of the event, several sports get a head start before the parade.
For Nigeria, the Paris Olympics will officially kick off tomorrow, the 25th, with the female football team, the Super Falcons, playing against Brazil in Group C at 6 pm GMT. The subsequent match will be played against Spain on Sunday, the 28th, at 6 pm GMT. Hope and expectations are high for Africa’s most successful female team.
We’re excited to track Nigeria’s progress, so stay tuned to Marie Claire Nigeria for the latest Olympics updates!
