PETALING JAYA: Let the Games begin!
Olympic Games hosts France lived up to the expectation by staging a spectacular and unique opening ceremony albeit rain as 206 nations took part on a floating parade as decorated boats sailed along the River Seine in Paris to officially kickstart the Games on Saturday.
The Malaysian contingent of six athletes and four officials – all smartly and resplendently clad in olive green with golden motifs coloured Baju Melayu Teluk Belanga paired with songkok and sampin (men), and Baju Kurung (women) named ‘The Malaya’ – was 112th in the order, and cruised in boat number 45 together with Malawi and Maldives.
Flagbearers Bertrand Rhodict (diving) and Nur Shazrin Mohamad Latif (sailing) led compatriots Nur Dhabitah Sabri (diving), Khairulnizam Mohd Afendy (sailing), Ashley Lau (golf) and Tan Rouxin (swimming) on the barge, with chef de mission Datuk Hamidin Mohd Amin, his deputy Datuk Nicol David, chief medical officer Dr Jasmiza Khuzairi Jasme and safeguarding officer Ang Li Peng also on board.
After the 205 delegations, including the Refugee Olympic Team, arrived at the Trocadero, the esplanade near the Eiffel Tower, where the athletes had gathered, witnessed the spectacular entrance of the masked torchbearer, astride a white horse.
After the Olympic flag was raised, the ceremony continued with speeches from the Paris 2024 Organising Committee president Tony Estanguet and the International Olympic Committee (IOC) president Thomas Bach.
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France’s President Emmanuel Macron then officially declared the Paris 2024 Olympic Games open.
Paris is hosting the Olympics for the third time after the 1900 and 1924 editions, equalling London’s (1908, 1948, and 2012) record of hosting the Games in the same city thrice.
After the athletes, officials and coaches had taken the Olympic oath, the ceremony peaked when three-time French judo champion Teddy Riner and French three-time gold-winning sprinter Marie-Jose Perec lit the cauldron – a 30m high and 22m in diameter hot-air balloon – in spectacular fashion.
The cauldron design is a tribute to the first flight on a hydrogen-filled gas balloon from the Gardens of the Tuileries in Paris in December 1783 by two French inventors – Jacques Alexander Charles and Nicholas Louis Robert.
The dazzling ceremony ended with a breathtaking laser display that lit up the Eiffel Tower and the Paris night skies.
The Games will begin in earnest today, with around 10,500 athletes set to vie for glory in 329 events across 32 sports until Aug 11.
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Other Malaysians competing in the Paris Games are archers Ariana Nur Dania Mohamad Zairi, Syaqiera Mashayikh and Nurul Azreena Mohd Fazil; shuttlers Lee Zii Jia, Goh Jin Wei, Aaron Chia, Soh Wooi Yik, Pearly Tan, M. Thinaah, Chen Tang Jie and Toh Ee Wei; diver Nur Dhabitah Sabri; swimmer Khiew Hoe Yan;
Road cyclists Nur Aisyah Mohamad Zubir (road), track cyclists Datuk Mohd Azizulhasni Awang, Muhammad Shah Firdaus Sahrom and Nurul Izzah Izzati Mohd Asri; golfers Gavin Green and Ashley Lau; shooter Johnathan Wong Guanjie; weightlifter Muhammad Aniq Kasdan; and sprinter Muhammad Azeem Fahmi.
Malaysia, who made their debut at the 1956 Melbourne Games, have won eight silvers and five bronzes, with badminton contributing the lion’s share of six silver and three bronze medals.
Los Angeles, in the United States, will host the 2028 edition of the Games.
