Paris Olympics 2024: Athletes sidelined in Opening Ceremony with a difference

The opening ceremony was a true spectacle, and spectacularly French. But amid mixed opinions of the ceremony the river boat section fell flat because it was hard to actually see the athletes.

As a truly Parisian opening ceremony it was everything the French people would have wanted – enthralling, artistic, captivating and at times maddening.

The final chapter of this marathon ceremony built to a phenomenal spectacle with a dazzling light show making the Eiffel Tower the true hero with Celine Dion’s iconic comeback as the French soundtrack.

As the reviews flooded in – decidedly mixed depending upon your country of origin and tolerance for a departure from tradition – one theme stood out.

Aren’t the athletes meant to be the heroes of the ceremony?

The French would be delighted to have thumbed their nose at those who believed this ceremony was anti-religious, or not sombre enough, as a beheaded Mary Antoinette and a zany blue smurf featured amid the glorious artistic flourishes.

Dancers perform on a roof during the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games. Picture: Dan Mullan / POOL / AFP

After watching a slow river parade build towards that triumphant conclusion, many will believe the French had it back to front.

Create your artistic vision – however zany, however comedic, however breathtaking.

Paint that canvas and then get out of the way for the athletes to flood the sporting arena as the singular focus of the Olympic ceremony.

A torchbearer runs past Pont Neuf during the Opening Ceremony of the Olympic Games. Picture: Maddie Meyer/Getty Images

Lady GaGa belts out a tune at the Opening Ceremony. Picture: Lars Baron/Getty Images

Then bring the whole show together with the final touches and the lighting of the Olympic cauldron.

Maybe it was the rain, maybe it was the drenched athletes in ponchos, maybe it was the long lenses needed to capture those riverboats on the Seine.

But it was hard to identify exactly who was who?

For many countries it was hard to pick their flagbearers.

Aussies ended up getting drenched on the boats. Picture: Quinn Rooney/Getty Images

Call it a minor quibble or a dashing of long-held protocol.

But for all the iconic images in a ceremony mixing dashes of Mardi Gras, mayhem and magic few were of the actual athletes.

It will give the LA organisers a chance to return the ceremony to more traditional roots at a stadium that is anything but traditional.

The high-tech SoFi Stadium is tagged as the venue for the opening ceremony instead of the more traditional and historical LA Coliseum.

If you know America, you know it will be big and brash and wonderful.

But how they integrate the Parade of Nations into the ceremony might define those reviews, even if their French neighbours would have been delighted to tip status quo onto its head.

Originally published as Paris Olympics 2024: Athletes sidelined in Opening Ceremony with a difference