Olympics News: Best Moments From the Opening Ceremony

The 2024 Paris Olympics officially began on Friday, as the Opening Ceremony formally concluded and the Olympic cauldron was lit.

With the entire city as the backdrop in the pouring rain, athletes traveled along the Seine River in boats waving to family, friends, and fans who lined its banks.

Thousands of athletes participated in the parade of nations. They were led by Greece and its flag-bearer, Giannis Antetokounmpo, as a tribute to the ancient Olympics that inspired the modern Games.

After Greece and the Olympic Refugee Team, countries paraded in based on alphabetical order in French — except for the United States, Australia, and France, which represent the future and current summer hosts.

The first big moment of the Opening Ceremony began with the clicking of high heels on stairs and dancers revealing Lady Gaga. “Bonsoir, bienvenue en Paris!” Gaga declared enthusiastically as she kicked off her musical number.

The Oscar-winning singer performed a rendition of the French song “Mon Truc En Plume,” or “My Thing Made of Feathers.”

Throughout the Opening Ceremony, a masked person ran through the streets, climbed buildings, and parkoured their way across the Paris skyline while holding the torch. The mystery torch-bearer added an element of suspense: Could that be the surprise flame lighter?

Heavy metal band Gojira performed for the crowd while overlooking the Seine River. They were accompanied by a beheaded Marie Antoinette, which had to be one of the strangest moments of the night:

Opera singer Axelle Saint-Cirel gave a chilling performance of the French National Anthem. It doesn’t matter if the audience can understand French or not, the performance was worthy of goosebumps. It was simply beautiful.

It was a magical moment when 594 athletes representing 46 states arrived at the Eiffel Tower. The United States of America was introduced with flag-bearers LeBron James and Coco Gauff.

Earlier in the evening, women’s basketball star A’ja Wilson joined Steph Curry for an interview on the NBC broadcast sporting an awesome pair of glasses.

The fastest man in the world, Noah Lyles, had his nails done for the evening and showed them off for the world to see. Each nail had a letter spelling the word “Icon.”

This year’s surfing competition is in Tahiti. The competitors gathered on the shore waving at the camera for their moment during the broadcast.

The host nation, France, was the last to arrive. The torch bearer followed, and the Eiffel Tower was sparkling as the Parade of Nations concluded.

After France’s President Emmanuel Macron officially opened the Games, legendary French soccer player Zinedine Zidane entered the venue with the Olympic Torch and handed it off to Spaniard Rafael Nadal, who is ending his tennis career after this year.

Nadal hopped onto a boat with international Olympians and stars, handing it off to American tennis icon Serena Williams. She then handed it to Romanian gymnast Nadia Comaneci, who passed it on to legendary sprinter Carl Lewis.

The boat docked and French tennis star Amelie Mauresmo ran to the Louvre, where retired French basketball player Tony Parker was waiting for her. Parker and Mauresmo joined three Paralympians and all five met up with handball legend Michael Guigou.

The next handoff was to another handball athlete, Allison Pineau. By the end of the walk, the group had accumulated to nearly 25 athletes. The final two torchbearers, Marie-Jose Perec and Teddy Riner, lit one of the most unique Olympic Cauldrons – a hot air balloon that took flight.

As the hot air balloon lifted off, Celine Dion took the stage that was built underneath the Olympic rings on the Eiffel Tower.