The opening ceremony of the XXXIII Summer Olympic Games has begun in Paris.
For the first time in history, the opening ceremony will not be held in a stadium. Instead, the hosts have opted for the traditional athletes' parade to take place along the Seine River.
French President Emmanuel Macron and International Olympic Committee President Thomas Bach greeted spectators from Trocadero Square as fireworks in the colors of the French flag - blue, white, red - lit up the Austerlitz Bridge, where the athletes' parade will begin.
Meanwhile, it has been revealed that French football legend Zinedine Zidane will be a torchbearer during the ceremony. Traditionally, the Greek delegation started the athletes' parade.
Organizers were unlucky with the weather, which is rainy, and spectators complained of long queues and problems with the ticketing system.
More than 100 high-ranking representatives of countries from all over the world arrived in Paris for the spectacular ceremony. On the Bulgarian side, there are President Rumen Radev and his wife Desislava Radeva, who were welcomed by French President Emmanuel Macron at a reception at the Elysée Palace. BOK President Stefka Kostadinova, Sports Minister Georgi Glushkov and Volleyball Federation President Lubo Ganev will also be guests at the ceremony.
The organizers kept the most important details of the ceremony secret until the last, including who will be the performers and who will light the Olympic flame. In recent days, the names of Lady Gaga and Celine Dion have been floated as performers, while French football legend Zinedine Zidane is the favorite to be given the honor of lighting the Olympic flame.
About 7,000 athletes are expected to cross the 6-kilometer route along the river on board 94 boats. Estimates are that between 300,000 and half a million people will watch the ceremony live by the Seine. In addition, the Parisian river will host part of the swimming competitions, for which the organizers have made great efforts in recent years to clean it to swimmable levels.
The chosen route starts at the Austerlitz Bridge and ends at the Eiffel Tower, where the Olympic flame will be lit. The ceremony will start at 20:30 Bulgarian time and will end shortly after midnight. The Bulgarian delegation includes 45 athletes in 16 different sports, which is a slight increase compared to the Olympics in Tokyo three years ago, when we had 42 athletes in 14 sports. The standard bearers of Bulgaria will be the boxer Stanimira Petrova and the swimmer Lyubomir Epitropov. Traditionally, Bulgaria's best hopes for medals come from rhythmic gymnastics, bars, wrestling and boxing.
In Paris, 10,714 athletes from 206 Olympic Committees will participate, and for the first time their number is equally divided between men and women. They will compete for a total of 329 sets of medals in 32 sports. In the French capital, breakdancing will make its Olympic debut. In addition to Paris, competitions will be held in 16 other cities, as well as on the island of Tahiti in the Pacific Ocean, where the battles in surfing will take place.
The closing ceremony of the Olympics will be held at the Stade de France in Paris on August 11, when the baton will be handed over to the host of the next Games - Los Angeles 2028. | BGNES
