Olympics 2024 - Nadal, Serena and Mauresmo close a crazy opening ceremony in Paris!
Rafael Nadal, Serena Williams and Amélie Mauresmo were among the final torchbearers at the opening ceremony of the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris on Friday. A grandiose ceremony that broke all codes for a breathtaking result.
For the first time in the history of the Olympic Games, the ceremony moved beyond the stadium and into the city. The stage was set on the Seine, as the 205 delegations sailed past in boats. All of this took place in the midst of lively tableaux (dancers, singers, musicians, performers...) carrying strong messages, in a skilfully orchestrated mix of genres.
The rain itself, which fell generously on the French capital, seemed to add a touch of enchantment. This enchantment reached its climax when a metallic horse and its silver rider, wearing the Olympic flag as a cape - an evanescent apparition, as mysterious as it was bewitching, suspended at full gallop in the Parisian night - descended the Seine over 6 kilometers from East to West, starting at the Pont d'Austerlitz and ending at the Trocadéro.
It was here that Rafael Nadal was handed the torch by Zinédine Zidane, at the foot of the Eiffel Tower, which lit up like never before as the Spaniard discreetly slipped away to the quays of the Seine. He boarded a boat where Serena Williams, Carl Lewis (10 Olympic medals, including 9 gold) and Nadia Comaneci (9 Olympic medals, including 5 gold) were waiting for him.
A few minutes later, the boat docked at the Musée du Louvre, where the flame was handed over to Amélie Mauresmo. The former world No. 1 then took the Olympic flame into the grounds of the former Palais Royal, where relay after relay took place between legends of French sport and Olympism, gradually making its way to the heart of the Tuileries Gardens.
Tony Parker, Nantenin Keita and Alexis Hanquinquant (French Paralympic flag-bearers, 9 medals including 3 gold and a gold medal respectively), Marie-Amélie Le Fur (athletics, 4 Paralympic medals including 1 gold), Michaël Guigou (handball, 4 Olympic medals including 3 gold), Allison Pineau (handball, 2 Olympic medals including 1 gold), Jean-François Lamour (fencing, 5 medals including 2 gold).
Then Felicia Ballanger (track cycling, 3 medals, all gold), Florian Rousseau (track cycling, 4 medals, including 3 gold), Émilie Le Pennec (gymnastics, 1 gold), David Douillet (judo, 3 medals, including 2 gold), Clarisse Agbégnénou (judo, 3 medals, including 2 gold), Alain Bernard (swimming, 4 medals, including 2 gold), Laure Manaudou (swimming, 3 medals, including 1 gold), Renaud Lavillenie (pole vault, 2 medals, including 1 gold) then Laura Flessel (fencing, 5 medals, including 2 gold) ...
And finally Charles Coste, 100 years old and the oldest living French Olympic champion (track cycling, London 1948), who handed over the task of lighting the Olympic cauldron to Marie-José Perec (3 medals, all gold) and Teddy Riner (5 medals, 3 gold). A cauldron transformed into a hot-air balloon's nacelle, which soared into the Paris sky, where it will hover throughout the competition. Stunning.
