Olympics: Fever in Paris for the opening ceremony

Olympics: Fever in Paris for the opening ceremony

With all the splendor and under draconian security measures, the… 2024 Olympic Gameswhile the city will welcome around 100 heads of state and over 10,000 athletes.

For the first time in the history of the Games, the opening ceremony will not take place in a stadium but on the Seine and it is expected that the 100 leaders will be present. Although an official list of the official has not yet been given, for security reasons and for any last minute changes.

It is noted that 45,000 police officers will be recruited, snipers will be on the roofs of the buildings, helicopters will patrol, while there will be continuous checks on the streets of the French capital.

Today it was confirmed that the president of Ukraine will not be present, while it has long been known that neither will the president of Russia, Vladimir Putin, who has not been sent an invitation due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine. The Chinese president will also be absent.

Kiev had hinted in recent days that the Ukrainian president would be present in the capital, but never confirmed it, according to a report by Le Parisien newspaper. Zelensky will be represented by the Minister of Sports of Ukraine, Matviy Bidny.
The Chinese president will be represented by China’s vice president, Han Zheng. Britain’s new prime minister Keir Starmer, who wants to strengthen ties with France, will attend the river parade.

Other Europeans expected to attend are German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, Italian President Sergio Mattarella, his Finnish counterpart Alexander Stubb and Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis.

On the other side of the Atlantic, although Joe Biden has withdrawn from the US election campaign, the First Lady of the United States, Jill, has confirmed her presence, as revealed by the newspaper Le Parisien. Douglas Emhoff, husband of US Vice President Kamala Harris, who is now running for the White House, will attend the closing ceremony.

The president of Israel, Isaac Herzog, will be present, around whom a thick web of security has been set up. Iran has also called for Israel to be excluded from the Olympics because of the war in Gaza. The head of the Palestinian Olympic Committee, Jibril Rajoub, will represent the president of the Palestinian Authority, Mahmoud Abbas.

At the center of the events is the iconic Eiffel Tower, which Parisians come down every night to admire, walking between the alleys next to the Champ-de-Mars (7th arrondissement), as the Tower glows in the half-light.
And it is not only the Tower that lights up the Parisian sky. Small flashing lights move back and forth above the heads of tourists and locals.

From early in the evening, helicopters fly in the Parisian sky disturbing the evenings of Parisians.

The opening ceremony and the grand dinner

This ceremony will not take place in the Olympic stadium, as tradition dictates, but on the Seine, in the heart of the capital. 326,000 spectators are expected, while 160 boats will parade along the Seine from the Austerlitz Bridge to the Jena Bridge. The show is expected to last nearly four hours.

Tonight the International Olympic Committee and its president Thomas Bach, together with the Elysee Palace and the president of France Emmanuel Macron, will host a dinner, under the pyramid of the Louvre, to their distinguished guests, leaders from all over the world.
Although it is not known who will be present, it is certain that the dinner will be prepared by the best chef in the world, Alain Ducasse.

It is the now traditional and highly prestigious “President’s Dinner” of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), co-hosted with the French presidency as a custom started by Thomas Bach on the eve of the Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia. in 2014.

The Champs-Élysées hopes to take advantage of the presence of the invited heads of state and dignitaries from various venues to make this dinner a “diplomatic moment”.

Alain Ducasse, is the chef with the most Michelin stars in the world and is considered a key figure in French “culinary diplomacy” abroad. He has already hosted the state dinners between Francois Hollande and Xi Jinping in 2014, as well as the dinners of Emmanuel Macron and Vladimir Putin in 2017 and the dinner of Emmanuel Macron and Donald Trump at the Eiffel Tower in the same year.

The other dignitaries

Among the other Gulf states, there is still some doubt whether Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman will attend. Also unknown is what will happen to the President of the United Arab Emirates Mohammed bin Zayed. The emir of Qatar, Tamim ben Hamad Al-Thani, a member of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), will certainly attend.
Brazilian President Lula will be represented by his wife Rosangela, while Argentine President Javier Millay and his Colombian counterpart Gustavo Petro have confirmed their presence.
The participation of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, as well as Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, is uncertain.
The presidents of Gabon, Brice Oligui Nguema, and Central African Republic, Faustin-Archange Touadéra, will also attend. The president of Cameroon, Paul Biya, has not confirmed whether he will attend, while the presence of the new president of Senegal, Diomaye Faye, is considered certain.
South African President Cyril Ramaphosa will not attend, while Niger will be represented by the Secretary General of the Ministry of Sports, Abdoulaye Mohamadou.

The kings

The British royal family will be represented by Princess Anne, sister of King Charles. Prince Albert of Monaco, who has been in Paris since Monday to participate in the IOC meeting, will also attend.
King Philip of Spain is also expected to attend the ceremony. Also on the banks of the Seine will be the King and Queen of Denmark, Frederik and Marie, as well as the king’s aunt, Princess Benedict.
King Philippe of Belgium and his wife Mathilde will also be in attendance.
On Friday, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres will call on people around the world to “lay down their arms” in a message, while President Emmanuel Macron has already called for an “Olympic truce”.



Source: www.enikos.gr