Olympic Games Opening Ceremony – Zougla

A few hours left until the start of the top sporting event of this summer.

Tonight, at 20:30 (ERT1), the opening ceremony of the “Paris 2024” Olympic Games will take place, in which the Greek delegation will parade with flag bearers Giannis Antetokounmpo and Antigoni Drisbiotis.

ADVERTISING SPACE

In it, more than 10,000 athletes, dozens of political figures with global influence and thousands of artists will take part, in a long-hour ceremony (s.p.: expected to end at 00:15 in the morning, Greek time), which will captivate hundreds of millions viewers around the world.

For the first time outside the Stadium

The big difference with the opening ceremonies of previous Olympic Games is that this one in Paris will be held outside the stadium for the first time: specifically it will take place along a 6 km route on the Seine.

ADVERTISING SPACE

It will start at the Austerlitz Bridge and end at the Trocadero, in the shadow of the Eiffel Tower, where the Olympic Altar will be lit and the opening of the 2024 Olympic Games will be announced.

About 100 boats will carry the members of the 205 Olympic teams. The boats will transport the athletes, but will also be used in the artistic part of the ceremony, which will showcase the history and culture of Paris and France, according to organizers.

There will be cameras on the boats, which will give viewers the opportunity to see the athletes up close.

Larger expeditions will have their own boats, while smaller groups will “share” one of them.

Around 300,000 spectators will be able to watch the Opening Ceremony of the Olympic Games “up close”, as estimated by the organizers.

With Antetokounmpo and Drisbiotis as flag bearers, Greece at the Opening Ceremony

Greece will of course march first, with Giannis Antetokounmpo and Antigoni Drisbiotis being the flag bearers of our country.

Then the rest of the countries will appear in alphabetical order as defined by the protocol and lastly France will appear as the host of the event.

The parade will end at the Eiffel Tower. The athletes will disembark there and go to the Trocadero to complete the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games.

With Celine Dion, Lady Gaga and Aya Nakamura the Opening Ceremony

The Opening Ceremony of the Paris Olympics has been planned in great secrecy.

However, in the last 24 hours there are strong rumors that Celine Dion and Lady Gaga will sing at the ceremony.

After all, both arrived in Paris this week.

MOTHER @celinedion has arrived at #Paris2024

Rumours have been circulating that the Canadian icon could be performing in Friday’s opening ceremony pic.twitter.com/Y0OAv0YhLc

— CBC Olympics (@CBCOlympics) July 23, 2024

There is also a strong rumor that the French Aya Nakamura will sing at the Opening Ceremony.

The artistic program of the ceremony includes the participation of approximately 400 dancers, who will be on each bridge of the route during which the opening ceremony will unfold.

Cheron, one of France’s ‘popes’ of disco and electro, has also seen his name come up persistently since the spring.

His 1970s hit ‘Supernature’, an early eco-friendly track, would be perfect for a ceremony that aims to be ecologically responsible.

Finally, the surprise is that the French metal group Gojira would be linked with the Franco-Swiss opera singer Marina Viotti, while also recently mentioned, Dua Lipa, the British megastar originally from Kosovo.

The 101 Greek athletes who will participate in Paris

The Greek delegation includes 101 Greek athletes who will be the first to march in the opening ceremony.

Analytically:

-Tennis (4): Stefanos Tsitsipas, Maria Sakkari, Petros Tsitsipas, Despina Papamichael

-Athletics (14): Poliniki Emmanuilidou, Antigoni Drisbioti, Kyriaki Filtisakou, Tatiana Gusin, Panagiota Dosi, Katerina Stefanidis, Eleni Pollak, Ariadni Adamopoulou, Stamatia Skarveli, Elina Jengo, Miltos Tedoglou, Emmanuel Karalis, Christos Franceskakis, Michalis Anastasakis

– Gymnastics (1): Lefteris Petrounias

-Swimming (16): Christian Golomeev, Stergios Bilas, Apostolos Christou, Anna Dountounaki, Apostolos Siskos, Vangelis Makrygiannis, Dimitris Markos, Apostolos Papastamos, Odysseas Meladinis, Panagiotis Bolanos, Georgia Damasioti, Nora Drakou, 4x100m mixed men – women, Men’s 4×200m freestyle

– Marathon swimming (1): Alkis Kynigakis

– Artistic swimming (2): Evangelia Plataniotis, Sofia Malkogeorgou

-Cycling (1): Giorgos Bouglas

-Wrestling (3): Giorgos Kouyoumtsidis, Dauren Kourouglieff, Maria Prevolaraki

-Judo (2): Elisavet Teltsidou, Thodoros Tselidis

– Shooting (5): Anna Korakaki, Christina Moschi, Emmanuela Katzouraki, Makis Mitas, Babis Chalkiadakis

– Rowing (7): Stefanos Duskos, Christina Bourbou/Evangelia Anastasiadou, Zoe Fitsiu/Milena Kontou, Antonis Papakonstantinou/Petros Gaidatzis

-Equestrian (1): Ioli Mytileneou

-Fencing (1): Gifts of Gundura

-Sailing (4): Byronas Kokkalanis, Cameron Maramenidis.

-Men’s national polo team (13): Manos Zerdevas, Panagiotis Tzortzatos (goalkeepers), Dinos Genidounias, Dimitris Skoubakis, Stathis Kalogeropoulos, Yiannis Foundoulis, Alexandros Papanastasiou, Nikos Gillas, Stelios Argyropoulos Kanakakis, Nikos Papanikolaou, Kostas Kakaris three Nikolaidis, Angelos Vlachopoulos

-Women’s national polo team (13): Ioanna Stamatopoulou, Eleftheria Pleuritou, Ioanna Hydirioti, Nicole Eleftheriadou, Margarita Pleuritou, Elena Xenaki, Alexandra Asimaki, Maria Patra, Irini Ninou, Vaso Pleuritou, Athena Giannopoulou, Maria Myricephalitaki, Chrysi Diamantopoulou

-Men’s National Basketball Team (12): Giannis Antetokounmpo, Nick Kalathis, Thomas Walkap, Kostas Papanikolaou, George Papagiannis, Vassilis Toliopoulos, Giannoulis Larentzakis, Michalis Kalaitzakis, Kostas Antetokounmpo, Dinos Mitoglouora, Dimitris Miitis, Vassilis Charalambopoulos

Draconian security measures

Of course, the security measures in view of the Opening Ceremony of the Olympic Games will be draconian.

The 6 km area of ​​the Seine where the boats with the teams will pass for the opening ceremony has already been blocked off.

Metro stations around the area have already been closed and according to the latest update, 45,000 police, 10,000 military and around 20,000 private security men will be on patrol during the Opening Ceremony.

At the same time, there will be helicopter patrols over the Paris sky.

Kyriakos Mitsotakis also at the Opening Ceremony

It is worth noting that the Greek Prime Minister, Kyriakos Mitsotakis, will also attend the Opening Ceremony of the 33rd Olympic Games, as announced on Thursday by government spokesman Pavlos Marinakis.