Reflections on the Olympic Opening Ceremony, Paris, France 2024
Last night’s Opening Ceremony of the 33rd Olympic Games in Paris, France was the first time the opening was conducted outside of a stadium. To anyone who sat attentively through the entire performance, it was agreed the event was phenomenal, artistic, and creative. It will be supremely challenging for any future hosts to surpass the Parisien effort!
Having lived in France for 3 years, I was not surprised that France hosted such an incredible opening. The French are experts at “les fêtes et les événements culturelles” - festivals and cultural events. When we lived in Maisons Lafitte, seemed to me that every town and village in France was hosting events on a continuous basis.
The French created a story – leading with their triumvirate values liberté egalité, fraternité, then carried the theme to solidarité, and other moral themes. As we have strife and war in Ukraine, Israel and Palestine, the French plead with us to “Imagine” world peace, through John Lennon and Yoko Ono’s moving song ‘Imagine.’
The decision to have the ceremony on the River Seine gave the Olympic athletes exposure to the history and culture of France, as they passed iconic Paris buildings, the Notre Dame, ending at the Eiffel Tower. Then the boats, les bateaux mouches, went under the historic bridges like the Pont des Artes and the Pont de Alexandre III. Compared to a stadium opening, where athletes parade in and then sit to watch a show, the athletes experienced Paris in all its glory.
The first boat the audience sees is the refugee country, a reminder that our world has countries and zones of great instability. Athletes have fled their home countries and, fortunately, can participate in the games under the Refugee flag. Then boats from each country pass alphabetically, in the French language, some countries sharing the deck of a larger vessel, or due to being a set of smaller teams.
We are given a geography lesson in the process. Did you know that there are more countries represented in the Olympics than are in the United Nations? Who knew that Swaziland had changed its name to the Kingdom of Eswatini in 2018. Who recalled that Taiwan has to compete under “Chinese Taipei” to appease mainland China? If one is curious, the Olympic games gives us a chance to make our globe a bit more familiar.
Oh, Paris, with your gray skies and drizzle! You had to treat the world’s best athletes to your rain. When friends asked if I wanted to stay in Paris, I reported that no, the gray weather is a challenge for me. Yet, athletes celebrated their well-deserved years of achievement while standing and cheering in their boats in the rain for hours.
Most importantly, the ceremony was intentional in being SUPER INCLUSIVE. The world was exposed to an incredible variety of performers. We witnessed all ages, every color, varying physical abilities, most nationalities, several ethnicities, and many genders on a spectrum. From the lovely ballet dancer in a skirt dancing on the top of a building, to the fashion show including an amputee, to the oldest French Olympian alive holding the Olympic torch - everyone had a role in the opening ceremony. Perhaps in an effort to eschew France’s imperialistic history, the final torch bearers were non-white French citizens.
The French are telling us, “THIS is our world now. A beautiful world of inclusivity, of color, of multiple identities, and of tolerance.” Let us take this opportunity to embrace this world.