Paris 2024

An Opening Ceremony like never before

For the first time in history, the Opening Ceremony of an Olympic Summer Games was held outside of a stadium - and to spectacular effect.

The Opening Ceremony on the river Seine is one of the most enduring images of the Games and featured a parade of athletes travelling in 85 boats along a six-kilometre route that ended with a spectacular show in Paris’s world-famous Trocadero.

Around 320,000 in-person spectators and billions more across the globe were treated to a mesmerising showcase of international talent, from the mezzo-soprano Axelle Saint-Cirel’s rousing rendition of "La Marseillaise" to Celine Dion’s unforgettable performance of Edith Piaf’s "L'hymne à l'amour".

A record-breaking Olympic Games

9,556,792 tickets were sold for the Olympic Games (as well as 2,575,855 for the Paralympic Games) with no less than 125 Olympic records beaten over the 14 days of competition. Athletics was particularly successful with over a million tickets sold, while records were also broken in women’s team sports. These included a new record of 27,000 for a women’s basketball match and a record of 26,000 for a women’s handball match.

Away from the field of play, fan zones also proved to be a huge success with over 7.5 million people visiting them across France.