The 2024 Paris Olympics has officially commenced following the opening ceremony.
All eyes were on the Seine as a controversial ceremony got underway that left almost every athlete out in the rain and saw questionable moments unfold all around.
‘Nasty’: Giddey rubs The rumours about the Opening Ceremony all suggested the $1.5 billion spectacle was going to blow the world away.
Unfortunately the world saw something very different.
The Paris Games officially opened in something that resembled a high school music night recital on Saturday morning (AEST) with athletes somewhat overshadowed by the colourful River Seine spectacle.
More than 9000 athletes are floating down the Olympic host city’s iconic river on a fleet of 85 barges and boats.
It is the first time in history the Summer Games have not been welcomed in with a ceremony inside the official Olympic Stadium.
Instead the athletes have been parading down a 6km stretch of the winding river from the Austerlitz bridge in the east to the Trocadero esplanade, opposite the Eiffel Tower.
The spectacle wasn’t a hit with viewers as rugby league legend Matty Johns summed it up to perfection: “It was an underwhelming start but it built very good. Not very sure about doing the opening ceremony on the water, but what do you do … the French, they’re oppositional.”
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