Paris Olympic Games 2024 Opening Ceremony Highlights: France Prez Emmanuel Macron Declares The Games Open

Crowds are gathering around the various entry points along the River Seine as the opening ceremony countdown nears.

France’s national weather service, Meteo France, is forecasting up to 12 millimeters (roughly half an inch) of rain in Paris during the opening ceremony.

Rain is expected to pick up around 6 p.m., roughly 90 minutes before athletes begin parading down the Seine River.

The opening ceremony for the Paris Olympics begin from 7:30 pm local time. That would mean in India, fans will be able to watch the ceremony from 11 pm.

Read more about it HERE.

French President Emmanuel Macron welcomed several dozen of heads of state and government at the Elysee presidential palace Friday afternoon.

Macron’s office said the Elysee reception was “an opportunity for France to deliver a message of peace and tolerance as 10,500 athletes from around the world gather to take part in the world’s biggest event."

The 2024 Paris Olympic Games will feature 329 medal events across 32 sports. The number of sports is one less than Tokyo Olympics' 33 and the number of medal events have been reduced by 10. However, some new sports and events have been added to make the Paris Games a true sporting spectacle.

Read more about it HERE.

Social media is abuzz with Lady Gaga's pictures and videos of her rehearsal side the River Seine. The Joker actress will be performing at the Opening Ceremony, or won't she?

Indian badminton star PV Sindhu has tweeted that it is her 'greatest honors' to be country's flagbearer at the Opening Ceremony.

She tweeted, "Paris 2024, flag bearer—one of the greatest honors of my life to hold our country's flag in front of millions."

SRT wrote on his official X profile wrote, “The @Olympics have always been a celebration of unity and excellence. As #Paris2024 begins, let's cheer on our incredible team of 117 athletes representing 1.4 billion hearts. Go out there and make us proud, Team India. Jai Hind!”

Taking to his official X profile, PM Modi wrote, “As the Paris #Olympics commences, my best wishes to the Indian contingent. Every athlete is India’s pride. May they all shine and embody the true spirit of sportsmanship, inspiring us with their exceptional performances. #Paris2024.”

India: Two-time Olympic medallist and badminton star P.V. Sindhu and table tennis player Sharath Kamal. 

Britain: Helen Glover, rowing (two-time gold medalist in the coxless pair) and Tom Daley, diving (Tokyo gold medalist in 10-meter synchronized diving and owner of three Olympic bronzes) 

Canada: Maude Charron, weightlifting (Tokyo gold medalist in the 64-kilogram category) and Andre de Grasse, athletics (Tokyo gold medalist at 200 meters) 

China: Ma Long, table tennis (five-time gold medalist) and Feng Yu, artistic swimming 

Eritrea: Biniam Girmay, cycling (first Black rider to win a Tour de France stage) and Christina Rach, swimming (16 years old) 

France: Melina Robert-Michon, athletics (discus), Florent Manaudou, swimming (London gold medalist in the 50-meter freestyle and three-time Olympic silver medalist) 

Greece: Antigoni Ntrismpioti, athletics (race walker) and Giannis Antetokounmpo, basketball (two-time NBA MVP, 2021 NBA champion with the Milwaukee Bucks) 

Puerto Rico: Jasmine Camacho-Quinn, athletics (Tokyo gold medalist in the 100-meter hurdles) and Sebastian Rivera, wrestling 

Qatar: Shahd Ashraf, athletics (women’s 100 meters) and Mutaz Barshim, athletics (Tokyo co-gold medalist in the high jump with Gianmarco Tamberi, who is one of Italy’s flag bearers) 

Refugee Team: Yahya Al Ghotany, taekwondo (born in Syria) and Cindy Ngamba, boxing (born in Cameroon) 

Ukraine: Elina Svitolina, tennis (Tokyo bronze medalist in women’s singles and three-time Grand Slam semifinalist) and Mykhailo Romanchuk, swimmer (Tokyo silver medalist in the 1,500-meter freestyle and bronze medalist in the 800-meter freestyle) 

United States: Coco Gauff, tennis (U.S. Open singles champion, French Open champion doubles champion) and LeBron James, basketball (four-time NBA MVP, four-time NBA champion, career scoring leader). (AP)

French President Emmanuel Macron is introduced along with IOC President Thomas Bach.

France's football legend Zinedine Zidane features in a video to kickstart the Olympic opening ceremony.

Greece leads the way as they become the first nation to open the ceremony at the Olympics in Paris.

The Refugee team comes in second at the Opening Ceremony at River Seine.

Led by flag bearers PV Sindhu and Sharath Kamal, watch out for the Indian contingent at the Opening Ceremony.

Musician, actress Lady Gaga who opened with 'Bonsoir and bienvenue', performs at the Opening Ceremony as the curtain is finally revealed. What she performed to? Well, she sang, "Mon Truc En Plume," a tribute to French dancer and actress Zizi Jeanmaire.

Indian contingent will come soon as we see various countries make their presence felt at the Opening Ceremony.

Here’s the full order for the Parade of Nations at the Paris Olympics Opening Ceremony:

1. Greece

2. Refugee Olympic Team

3. Afghanistan

4. South Africa

5. Albania

6. Algeria

7. Germany

8. Andorra

9. Angola

10. Antigua and Barbada

11. Saudi Arabia

12. Argentina

13. Armenia

14. Aruba

15. Austria

16. Azerbaijan

17. Bahamas

18. Bahrain

19. Bangladesh

20. Barbados

21. Belgium

22. Belize

23. Benin

24. Bermuda

25. Bhutan

26. Bolivia

27. Bosnia and Herzegovina

28. Botswana

29. Brazil

30. Brunei

31. Bulgaria

32. Burkina Faso

33. Burundi

34. Cayman Islands

35. Cambodia

36. Cameroon

37. Canada

38. Cape Verde

39. Central African Republic

40. Chile

41. China

42. Cyprus

43. Colombia

44. Comoros

45. Republic of the Congo

46. Democratic Republic of the Congo

47. Cook Islands

48. South Korea

49. Costa Rica

50. Ivory Coast

51. Croatia

52. Cuba

53. Denmark

54. Djibouti

55. Dominican Republic

56. Dominica

57. Egypt

58. El Salvador

59. United Arab Emirates

60. Ecuador

61. Eritrea

62. Spain

63. Estonia

64. Eswatini

65. Ethiopia

66. Fiji

67. Finland

68. Gabon

69. The Gambia

70. Georgia

71. Ghana

72. Great Britain

73. Grenada

74. Guam

75. Guatemala

76. Guinea

77. Guinea-Bissau

78. Equatorial Guinea

79. Guyana

80. Haiti

81. Honduras

82. Hong Kong

83. Hungary

84. India

85. Indonesia

86. Iran

87. Iraq

88. Ireland

89. Iceland

90. Israel

91. Italy

92. Jamaica

93. Japan

94. Jordan

95. Kazakhstan

96. Kenya

97. Kyrgyzstan

98. Kiribati

99. Kosovo

100. Kuwait

101. Laos

102. Lesotho

103. Latvia

104. Lebanon

105. Liberia

106. Libya

107. Liechenstein

108. Lithuania

109. Luxembourg

110. North Macedonia

111. Madagascar

112. Malaysia

113. Malawi

114. Maldives

115. Mali

116. Malta

117. Morocco

118. Marshall Islands

119. Mauritius

120. Mauritania

121. Mexico

122. Federated States of Micronesia

123. Moldova

124. Monaco

125. Mongolia

126. Montenegro

127. Mozambique

128. Myanmar

129. Namibia

130. Nauru

131. Nepal

132. Nicaragua

133. Niger

134. Nigeria

135. Norway

136. New Zealand

137. Oman

138. Uganda

139. Uzbekistan

140. Pakistan

141. Palau

142. Palestine

143. Panama

144. Papua New Guinea

145. Paraguay

146. Netherlands

147. Peru

148. Philippines

149. Poland

150. Puerto Rico

151. Portugal

152. Qatar

153. North Korea

154. Romania

155. Rwanda

156. Saint Kitts and Nevis

157. Saint Lucia

158. San Marino

159. Saint Vincent and the Grenadines

160. Solomon Islands

161. Samoa

162. American Samoa

163. Sao Tome and Principe

164. Senegal

165. Serbia

166. Seychelles

167. Sierra Leone

168. Singapore

169. Slovakia

170. Slovenia

171. Somalia

172. South Sudan

173. Sudan

174. Sri Lanka

175. Sweden

176. Switzerland

177. Suriname

178. Syria

179. Tajikistan

180. Chinese Taipei

181. Tanzania

182. Chad

183. Czech Republuc

184. Thailand

185. East Timor

186. Togo

187. Tonga

188. Trinidad and Tobago

189. Tunisia

190. Turkmenistan

191. Turkey

192. Tuvalu

193. Ukraine

194. Uruguay

195. Vanuatu

196. Venezuela

197. British Virgin Islands

198. Virgin Islands

199. Vietnam

200. Yemen

201. Zambia

202. Zimbabwe

203. Australia (2032 Olympics host)

204. United States (2028 Olympics host)

205. France (2024 Olympics host)

Notre-dame bells were rung for the first time at the opening ceremony since the fire.

The Masked individual seen carrying Olympic torch is seen parkouring his way across the Paris skyline. Who is HE?

Mali-born Aya Nakamura performs at the Opening Ceremony with the track 'Djadja'.

India will be the 84th ranked team to arrive at the Opening Ceremony and will be after Hungary.

Rain is picking up in Paris, France but that has not bogged down the athletes.

Indian contingent led by PV Sindhu, and Sharath Kamal proudly fly the Indian flag.

The famous 'Minions', known to the world in the movie ' Despicable Me', make an appearance in the Opening Ceremony.

Some Indian fans have made their way in to the Opening Ceremony.

Axelle Saint-Cirel sang the French national anthem, "La Marseillaise," from the roof of the Grand-Palais.

The Nigeria women’s basketball team wasn’t allowed to board the delegation’s boat for the opening ceremony of the Paris Olympics by one of the country’s officials, said a person familiar with the situation.

The person spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because the Nigeria delegation has not publicly commented.

Once the team made it to the area where they were supposed to board the boat and be a part of the ceremony, they were denied entry by a Nigerian official who told them that there were too many people on board. The team made its way to the athletes village after being turned away. (AP)

Famous video game 'Assassin's Creed' fans on social media are wondering if the masked torch bearer could be Arno, a figure from the game itself.

The "Assassin's Creed" account on X posted that "Arno might just be watching from above" after many speculated that he could be the person running through Paris.

Arshad Nadeem, who could be a fierce competitor to Neeraj Chopra, has led out his Pakistan contingent on the River Seine.

A stat that could be worth noting down - The last time it rained at a Summer Olympics opening ceremony was at the 1952 Games in Helsinki, as per the NBC broadcasters.

The Indian contingent have posted pictures of their parade with the flag bearers Sharath Kamal and PV Sindhu.

Russia and Belarus are notably absent from the opening ceremonies as the International Olympic Committee banned both nations participating in the celebration.

However, 32 athletes from these countries will be competitng as “Individual Neutral Athletes,” or “AINs."

Led by flag bearers LeBron James, Simone Biles, Team USA finally made their way out in the rainy weather in Paris.

Finally the host nation is out on the River Seine! France finally make their way out at the Opening Ceremony. There are 571 athletes competing on behalf of France.

The famous song 'Freed From Desire' rings out at the opening ceremony.

About two dozen Olympic volunteers started to dance together in the rain in front of the bleachers at the Du Carosel viewing point. Fans who hadn’t been chased away by the downpour cheered as they bounced and jumped around.

One of the ideals of the Olympics is peace, which makes John Lennon’s “Imagine” a natural fit for the opening ceremony.

Juliette Armanet performed the song alongside pianist Sofiane Pamart.

“The Olympic Games must always build bridges. The Olympic Games must never erect walls. Imagine. You may say we are dreamers. We are not the only ones,” IOC president Thomas Bach said exactly one year ago Friday, borrowing from the song. (AP)

The Olympic Flame will be lit soon by the masked man/woman, about whom we will know soon.

The masked individual carries the Olympic Flag in front of the iconic Eiffel Tower.

And now it's time for the Olympic Anthem.

Filippo Grandi, the United Nations high commissioner for refugees, has been a given the Olympic Laurel.

Tony Estanguet, a three-time European champion, three-time world champion, three-time Olympic champion and now the President of the Paris 2024 Organising Committee for the Olympic and Paralympic Games speaks at the Opening Ceremony.

President of the International Olympic Committee, Thomas Bach speaks to the audience.

French President Emmanuel Macron will declare the Games Open.

For the first time, the Olympic Games will have an equal 50:50 ratio between male and female athletes, IOC president Thomas Bach said.

Zinedine Zidane is handed the Torch by the 'masked individual'.

Zinedine Zidane has handed over the Flame to Rafa Nadal.

A laser show has taken over the Eiffel Tower, which is a treat to the eyes.

Carl Lewis, Rafael Nadal, Serena Williams and Nadia Comaneci carry the Olympic torch aboard the boat.

French tennis star, Amelie Mauresmo, sprints her way besides the Seine river, greeting the fans in thousands. She then hands it to NBA player Tony Parker.

French para athletes take over the flame as they sprint around the Louvre. Charles Coste, the oldest living French Olympic medalist, was among the athletes who carried the Olympic torch. Speaking about Coste, he is 100, born in 1924. Coste won Gold in the 1948 London Olympic Games in the team pursuit cycling event.

Veteran singer Celine Dion sings 'Hymne à l’amour' atop the Eiffel Tower.

After being carried by a number of athletes, the Olympic cauldron has officially been lit.

And that's the end of the ceremony, in what has been a spectacle to the eyesight. So, let the Games begin! We will return as the action begins at the Olympics on Day 1!