by Vincent Daheron
PARIS (Reuters) – The opening ceremony of the 2024 Paris Olympic Games will begin at 7:30 p.m. on July 26, Tony Estanguet, the president of the Olympic organizing committee, announced on Friday.
“The objective is to make the most of natural light,” he said during a joint press conference with the International Olympic Committee (IOC).
In the French capital, the sun will set at 9:35 p.m. on July 26, i.e. 2h05 after the start of the opening ceremony which is to take place on the Seine.
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The ceremony will take the form of a six-kilometer parade between the Pont d’Austerlitz and the Pont d’Iéna before ending in front of the Trocadéro.
In total, it will welcome 326,000 spectators: 104,000 paying on the lower platforms and 222,000 on the upper platforms in the form of invitations as announced by Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin during a Senate hearing last Tuesday.
During this press conference following the seventh and final coordination commission between the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and the organizers, the director of the IOC coordination commission Pierre-Olivier Beckers-Vieujant expressed his “encouragement” and ” great satisfaction to see the work that has been carried out.”
“The Olympics are where they need to be at this point in the project,” he stressed.
“The coordination commission leaves Paris today with full confidence that excellence is absolutely achievable, it is within reach. We see no project, no initiative that could at this stage represent a major obstacle to achieving it. of the extraordinary vision that Paris 2024 has proposed”, he added, 140 days before the opening ceremony.
“The plan continues to unfold without a hitch, without major difficulty,” continued Tony Estanguet. “Confidence, serenity and enthusiasm emerge. We know how decisive this final stretch is in transforming this potential into real success.”
(Reporting Vincent Daheron, written by Kate Entringer, edited by Sophie Louet)
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