Rain puts a dampener on the Paris Olympics opening ceremony down the River Seine
A total of 85 boats sailed down the river carrying team delegations while the likes of Laga Gaga performed and the rain came down.
Paris welcomed the Olympic Games with an opening ceremony like no other as athletes sailed down the River Seine to the sound of Lady Gaga and more, but relentless rain put a dampener on the party.
Zinedine Zidane starred in a video to tee up the arrival of the Olympic flame before flares set off from the Austerlitz Bridge formed a tricolore.
A total of 85 boats then began carrying the team delegations on a six-kilometre journey through the centre of Paris, with more than 300,000 spectators lining the banks of the river.
As they did so, performers kept the script to deliver an array of performances that sought to convey the story of Paris and of France.
Lady Gaga was the first to steal the show, bursting forth from behind a pair of out-sized pink pom-poms to deliver a burlesque take on the French classic ‘Mon truc en plume’.
British prime minister Sir Keir Starmer was among those watching from the main stadium in the Jardins du Trocadero, donned in a Team GB rain jacket while others were decked out in ponchos.
Other famous faces within the stadium – aside from IOC president Thomas Bach and French president Emmanuel Macron included Ariana Grande, Serena Williams and John Legend.
That came just before the Great Britain team hit the screens, with Andy Murray among those accompanying flagbearers Tom Daley and Helen Glover.
Once at the Trocadero, athletes – having long since abandoned any hope of keeping dry – began to gather by the long stage down the centre of the temporary stadium, which staff were busily trying to keep free of standing water with mops.
The rain finally began to ease off – but not stop – as a performance of John Lennon’s ‘Imagine’ was accompanied by a call for peace.
