Expectations as games of XXIII Olympiad set Paris abuzz

From today, till August 11, 2024, the best of the world’s sportsmen and women will converge on Paris and other French cities to vie for honours and global fame. CHRISTIAN OKPARA writes that while the organisers have promised a spectacle, some of the world’s best performers will be jostling for a fitting coda for the last four years of hard work.

They have come from across the world; men, women, boys and girls, to battle for honours for their countries and themselves. It is the Games of the XXIII Olympiad, which officially begins today in Paris and France’s other major cities.

The Games actually began on Wednesday with competitions in football and rugby sevens, but the official opening ceremony, signaling the commencement of ‘hostilities’, will hold today at Paris’ famous River Seine.

It is the first time the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games will not hold inside the host city’s main stadium.

Team Nigeria’s contingent, led by badminton star, Anuoluwapo Opeyori and world 100m hurdles record holder, Tobi Amusan, have taken their position in the City of Light, ready to give their compatriots reasons to celebrate, even in this tough times at home.

The eye-catching opening ceremony will hold across a six-kilometre route along the Seine. It will begin at Austerlitz Bridge and end among the gardens, fountains and palaces in the shadow of the Eiffel Tower at Trocadero.

According to the organising committee, there will be almost 100 boats carrying more than 10,000 athletes, plus a host of dignitaries, which will sail past Paris’ iconic landmarks, including Notre Dame Cathedral and Pont Neuf.

The boats will transport the athletes in the parade but also be used in the artistic part of the ceremony, which will showcase the history and culture of Paris and France.

Although the identity of the show stoppers have not been made public as we went to press, the organisers said that they expect thousands of people to line the river and the streets with millions more watching on television around the world.

French actor and Theatre Director, Thomas Jolly, who is the opening ceremony’s artistic director, said in a statement that the spectacle will show France in all its diversity.

He said: “It will illustrate the richness and plurality shaped by its history, which has been influenced and inspired by the diverse cultures that have passed through it, serving as a source of inspiration.

“We’ll have some cliches (about France) but also we are going to share what is Paris, what is France today.”

More than 300,000 spectators will be watching from the riverbanks, with hundreds of millions more expected to watch on TV or on social media.

“I’m very impatient … I want to share it now because (we’ve been) working on this ceremony for two years … and I’m so impatient to share it with the world,” Jolly said.

About the artists, he added, “We are not going to say anything, but it will be a beautiful night with a lot of important people who have something to celebrate with us about Paris,” he said.

Jolly affirmed that the show would “interweave the parade of athletes, the artistic paintings and the elements of protocol which are staged.

“That is the moment to celebrate the relationship that Paris, that France maintains with the world at the moment when the world enters Paris and when the world will look at Paris.”

Embedded in the ceremony is the official opening of the Games by France president, Emmanuel Macron, and the lighting of the Olympic cauldron.

The ceremony is expected to last for just under four hours, with the final stages holding as the sun sets across the French capital.

According to the Games’ programme, originators of the Olympics, Greece, will be the first nation introduced during the ceremony. They will then be followed by the Refugee Olympic Team, while hosts France will be the last to be introduced.

Due to their countries involvement in the war against Ukraine, athletes from Russia and Belarus, who are competing as individuals, will not participate in the opening ceremony.

Speaking on the ceremony, Head of the Paris Olympics Organising Committee, Tony Estanguet, assured athletes, officials and sports fans that everything had been done to ensure they get enough entertainment during the opening ceremony.

“We know the importance of the opening ceremony for the Olympic Games. It’s key for the athletes, it’s key for the country that organises it,” Estanguet said.

“That’s why, from the start, we have been very ambitious because we really want this opening ceremony to embody all the ambition of Paris 2024: daring, atypical Games, which shows the best of France,” he said.

The ceremony’s choreographer, Maud Le Pladec, has also promised a total show, where everything will be mixed.

“This is a popular show, but (you’ll see) how we can make it chic also, how we can make it a la Francaise.”

To add spice to an already thrilling ensemble, some of the world’s best artistes have joined the pilgrimage to Paris, a city known as the fashion capital of the world.

Among these stars are Celine Dion, Lady Gaga, Burna Boy and Snoop Dog. Their presence has raised questions on whether they are billed to perform at the Games.

Paris 2024 will welcome several debuting sporting events into the Olympic family. Among them is breaking, commonly known as breakdancing.

Breaking will showcase 16 athletes for the men’s and women’s competitions in head-to-head matchups. Breakers will compete in a round robin before advancing to a knockout stage.

Judges will score breakers on five categories — technique, vocabulary, execution, musicality and originality. The event will begin on August 9 at La Concorde, a historic square at the end of the Champs-Elysees.

Outside of breaking, multiple sports have added new events for the Paris Games, including women’s boxing, which will now include a new division for bantamweight at 119 pounds.

Meanwhile, sailing has added men’s kite, women’s kite and dinghy. In kiting, athletes race on boards that fly above the water. Mixed dinghy features teams of one male athlete and one female athlete racing together in one boat.

Notably, all sailing races will take place at Marseille Marina, approximately 400 miles southeast of Paris.

Additional events include men’s and women’s kayak cross in canoe shalom, K-2 500m and C-2 500m in canoe sprint as well as mixed team skeet in shooting events, where one man and one woman from each nation will partner.

Away from the opening ceremony festivities, managers of Team Nigeria are brimming with anticipation of a golden run at the Games.

Their belief is that the country has a strong cast of athletes that will make Paris 2024 Nigeria’s best outing since the 1996 Games, where the country won two gold medals and several silver and bronze medals.

One of the athletes they are banking on for a gold medal is Tobi Amusan, the world record holder in 100 metres hurdles, who is going into the games with the world’s best time in the event this year.

There is also Ese Brume, who won a bronze medal at the Tokyo 2020 Games. Brume is among long jumpers expected to fight for the gold medal on the final day.

Nigeria’s only medal in taekwondo was won by Chika Chukwumerije at the Beijing 2008 edition of the Games. And now, Elizabeth Anyanacho wants to go a step better by winning either a silver medal or the gold.

Looking forward to a fruitful outing in Paris, Anyanacho told the world media that her dream “is to get the gold medal.”

Anyanacho prepared for the Games at the Taekwondo Competence Centre in Friedrichshafen, Germany on an IOC training scholarship.

Like the young Nigerian, her coach, Markus Kohlöffel, is sure that she can be the top ranked athlete in Paris.

“She had great development since she arrived in the training centre. She is fast learning and very intelligent about the tactics and strategy”, says Kohlöffel.

Anyanacho is confident that she would not repeat the mistakes she made in Tokyo that cost her dearly against Türkiye’s Nur Tatar in the first round.
“The stage was big for me. I was not really used to it,” adds the athlete.

Being more experienced will help to get better results in Paris. The 25-year-old athlete won a gold medal at the G1 tournament in Luxembourg in June as her last pre-Olympic warm-up before the Olympic Games. She also won a gold medal at the African Games earlier this year.

“Putting all my experiences together, I have a good feeling that I’m going to get a very positive result in Paris,” she said.

Like every other Nigerian official, Sports Development Minister, John Owan Enoh, echoes that his aspiration is for Team Nigeria to surpass the Atlanta 1996 Olympic Games performance. But he wants Nigerians to support the athletes to go the extra mile in achieving possible results in Paris.

“Our athletes have put in tremendous effort and dedication in their preparations,” said Enoh. “We are confident that with the support of every Nigerian, our team will excel and make the nation proud.”

Enoh has also prioritised the welfare of athletes, demonstrated by the increase in bonuses and allowances payable to athletes.

“The entire N100 million contributed by the Federal House of Representatives will be given to the athletes,” he announced. “Additionally, domestic camping allowances, foreign training grants, foreign training allowances, Olympic Games allowances, and winning bonuses will be given to ensure our athletes are well-supported.”

Team Nigeria is fielding 88 athletes in 12 different sports at the Games.

The country began its campaign at the Games with a women’s football match against Brazil in Bordeaux, yesterday.