sports desk4 minutes ago
- copy link
The Indian contingent will be seen at number 84 in the opening ceremony parade of Paris Olympics. France made excellent preparations for the 34th Olympic Games and made it historic. For the first time in the 129-year Olympic history, the opening ceremony will be held outside, not inside the stadium. The ceremony will start from the Seine River in Paris.
10,500 athletes from 206 countries and associations will parade on boats on the Seine River. Who will enjoy the inaugural program in the heart of the city. Parade 6 km. Will be long. A record 3 lakh spectators are expected to watch it.
Highlights, history and interesting facts of the opening ceremony in the story…
1. Where will the opening ceremony take place?
The opening ceremony will start at 11 pm on July 26 in Paris, the capital of France. For the first time in history, there will be a Parade of Nations and programs leaving the stadium on the river and streets. Starting from the Seine River, the 6 km long parade will proceed to the Trocadero Gardens. More than 10 thousand athletes will participate in it.
Leaders and administrative officials of more than 120 countries will also participate in the ceremony. After the parade is over, there will be dance and singing programs depicting French culture for some time. The ceremony will last for about 2 hours. France has kept the slogan of the 2024 Olympics as ‘Games Wide Open’. Which means, the games are completely open.
2. What’s different about the ceremony?
- Parade of Nations: All the athletes will take part in the ceremony in about 94 boats. The boats are equipped with cameras, through which players from every country can be seen on TV and online in the Parade of Nations. In the parade, the athletes will travel through the city on boats on the Seine River and reach the Trocadero Gardens. The final show of the opening ceremony will take place here.
- Ceremony outside the stadium: From the first Olympics in 1896 until 2020, the opening ceremony took place inside the stadium. For the first time in history, the ceremony will start from the famous Seine River in the center of Paris. For the first time, cultural programs will also take place on the streets.
- Mayor goes swimming to show river is not polluted: Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo jumped into the Seine River to demonstrate the purity of the river. He swam with his companions and told that there would be no problem in organizing ceremonies and games in the river. Water sports events are also to be held in the Seine River.
- Claim of 3 lakh viewers: It is being claimed in the French media that the Paris Olympics will have the biggest opening ceremony in history. Where around 3 to 4 lakh spectators are expected to reach.
3. When will India be in the parade?
- Greece will be first in the Parade of Nations. Because the modern Olympic Games started in Greece in 1896, they are placed first in every Olympic parade. Ancient Olympics were also held in Greece 3000 years ago.
- In the Olympic parade, 5 positions are decided every time, first, second, last, second last and third last. The Olympic refugee team is second after Greece. The last place belongs to the host country, that is, France will come at number 206. Immediately before them is the host of the next Olympics and before that is the host of the next Olympics. That means America, the host of 2028, will come at number 205 and Australia, the host of 2032, will come at number 204.
- Apart from the 5 fixed positions, the positions of the countries are decided according to the local alphabet. For this reason Afghanistan is at number three. Due to which India’s team of 117 players will be at number 84 in the Parade of Nations.
4. Who is the flag bearer of India?
- Shuttler PV Sindhu and table tennis player Sharath Kamal will carry the Indian flag in the opening ceremony parade. Behind them will be 115 players from the country. Sindhu won silver medal in 2016 Olympics and bronze medal in 2020. This could be Sharath Kamal’s last Olympics. He has won gold for India in the Commonwealth Games.
- In 1920, sprinter Purma Banerjee held the Indian flag in the Olympics for the first time. In the last Olympics, boxer Mary Kom and men’s hockey team captain Manpreet Singh were carrying the tricolor.
Badminton star PV Sindhu will be India’s flag bearer at the Paris Olympics.
5. Where will you be able to watch the ceremony?
Viewers in India will be able to watch the Olympic opening ceremony live on Sports-18 on TV and online on JioTV. Apart from this, you can also follow live updates of the opening ceremony on Dainik Bhaskar app.
6. When did the Olympic ceremony take place for the first time?
- Opening ceremonies began with the first Olympic Games in 1896. In this the players took an oath to show sportsmanship. Its purpose was that the Olympic Games had officially started.
- The 1896 ceremony took place in a stadium with a capacity of 60 thousand spectators. Since then this ceremony was taking place in the stadium only. The Olympic Committee approved the opening ceremony in 1904. It was then decided that the Parade of Nations, Olympic Oath, Olympic Torch, cultural performance and culture of the host country would be shown in the ceremony.
- The first Parade of Nations took place at the 1908 London Olympics. The aim was that all the countries and players should come to one place in team dress before the start of the game. In this, the leaders of all countries have the flag of their country in their hands.
7. What is the Olympic Torch?
- Exactly 100 days before the start of the Olympic Games, a torch is rotated in different cities around the world, so that people can know that the Olympic Games are about to start. This time the Olympic torch relay started in Greece on 16 April. There is a special lighting ceremony for this also.
- The torch was brought to Paris after traveling to more than 400 cities of France. In the opening ceremony on July 26, members of the Olympic Committee will be at the forefront holding the torch before Greece.
- In the ancient Olympic Games, the Olympic torch was lit by the sun’s rays. It was kept in a room until the games were over. The Olympic torch is considered a symbol of peace and friendship in the world. Even now the Olympic torch is lit by the sun’s rays, but modern technology is used for this.
Artists performing in France with the Paris Olympic torch.
8. Interesting stories
- 1904 St. Louis: Introduction of the Olympic Oath and Flag. For the first time, the start of the game was announced by lighting a torch in the ceremony.
- 1960 Rome: For the first time the ceremony was broadcast on TV.
- 1980 Moscow: For the first time, a laser show took place, in which a very large Olympic flag was also taken.
- 2000 Sydney: The ceremony featured the Unity Flag, in which athletes from North and South Korea came together for the first time and took part in the ceremony with a united flag. Teams of North and South Korea participated in the opening ceremony of the 2000 Olympics carrying the ‘Unity Flag’.
- 2008 Beijing: More than 100 crore people watched the opening ceremony live on TV. This then accounted for 15% of the world’s population. More than 10 thousand artists performed in the ceremony. It is claimed that this was the most expensive opening ceremony in history. However, its expenditure was not made public.
- 2012 London: For the first time, the theme of digital technology and social media was kept in the ceremony.
- 2020 Tokyo: The ceremony was postponed for the first time. Due to Corona virus, Tokyo Olympics were held in 2021 instead of 2020, the number of spectators in its ceremonies had to be greatly reduced. Many games were even played without spectators. However, these games are known only as Olympics 2020.
The opening ceremony of the 2020 Tokyo Olympics took place without spectators due to Corona.
When will the closing ceremony take place?
Like the opening, there is also a closing ceremony. This time the closing ceremony of the Olympics will be held on August 11 at the Stade de France in Paris. The gold medal match of women’s basketball will start at 7 pm. After this, the closing ceremony will be held from 11:30 pm.
Graphics: Anklesh Vishwakarma
