France dazzles world with colourful, vibrant Olympics ceremony

Paris: The city of Paris turned into a colossal amphitheatre, and the iconic river Seine served as a track for the athletes' parade as France showcased its cultural diversity, spirit of revolution, impeccable craftsmanship and architectural heritage in a riveting opening ceremony for the 33rd Olympic Games here on Friday.

The spectacle started with a dreamy break from tradition as 'Parade of Nations' kicked off the proceedings in which athletes from 205 countries and one refugee team sailed down the Seine on boats despite heavy rain, in the run-up to and during the ceremony, threatening to play spoilsport.

The ceremony also gave a sweet nod to 'Hindi' as it was among the six languages used in infographics to pay tribute to the contribution of prominent French women during the segment titled 'sisterhood'. French President Emmanuel Macron declared the Games open, marking the formal beginning of competitions for the next 16 days. After keeping it a secret till the end of the ceremony that lasted four hours, French judo great Teddy Riner and sprint legend Marie-Jose Perec jointly lit the Olympic cauldron, symbolic of the most gender-neutral Games. The cauldron was attached to a giant hot-air balloon, which lifted off into the Paris night. Before that French football legend Zinedine Zidane handed the torch to Spanish tennis superstar Rafael Nadal who sailed down the Seine along with another tennis legend Serena Williams and former track star Carl Lewis.

More than a dozen former French sporting greats changed hands before wheelchair-bound Charles Coste, the oldest French Olympic champion at 100, took the flame to be handed to Riner and Perec.

The highlight of the unconventional and daring opening ceremony was without doubt the athletes' march on the Seine river. The show began with camera panning to French President Emmanuel Macron and International Olympic Committee head Thomas Bach after World Cup-winning football legend Zinedine Zidane was shown sprinting down the streets of Paris with the Olympic flame in a pre-recorded video.

The six kilometre parade began from Austerlitz bridge and 85 boats carried more than 6,800 athletes amid loud cheers from the gathered crowd. A good number of athletes also skipped the incredible show due to their competitions on Saturday. The sequence of arrivals followed the French alphabetical order. The first to arrive was the Greek contingent, for being the spiritual home of the Games, followed by the Refugee team. France, as host country, came last to a boisterous cheer from the home crowd.