PARIS 24
ON YOUR MARKS, GET SET, GO!
This year's opening ceremony will differ from the tradition of athletes entering the main stadium displaying their national flag. Instead, organisers are planning to stage ‘an open ceremony’. In a unique twist, athletes will be seen on a 6km procession of boats along the River Seine, passing many of Paris's most famous landmarks such as the Louvre and Notre-Dame. Not only will it be the first time a modern Summer Olympics opening ceremony has been held outside a stadium, but it is also claimed that it will be the largest opening ceremony in Olympic history. The occasion will see each boat equipped with cameras to allow television and online audiences to see some of the world's best athletes up close.
Those fortunate to be there will witness the official lighting of the Olympic flame. But drawing up such a bold ceremony to kick off the world's biggest sporting event poses several enormous challenges and has led to a scaling back of the plans.
Original estimates were that around 600,000 people, including the general public without tickets, would be able to enjoy the spectacle, but that has been downgraded to around 300,000 (100,000 paying spectators with a waterside view and about 220,000 people with tickets on the river's upper embankments).
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