The 2024 Paris Olympic opening ceremony is the most ambitious yet

The organizers of Friday’s opening ceremony of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games hope to provide relief, positivity and unity in a world increasingly beset with tension.

PARIS — After a global pandemic and with at least three ongoing wars, the organizers of Friday’s opening ceremony for the 2024 Paris Olympic Games hope to provide relief, positivity and perhaps even some unity in a world increasingly beset with tension.

There has never been a celebration so ambitious during the 128-year history of the modern Olympiad. Rather than parade inside a stadium, around 10,500 athletes will sail in a 3.5-mile flotilla of 94 boats down Paris’ iconic Seine River. It could be a blockbuster return for the summer sporting festival, which will host spectators for the first time in eight years after the coronavirus-plagued days of Tokyo in 2021.

The spectacle of the opening ceremony typically draws viewers who may not even follow athletics, and this year’s open-air extravaganza promises to be no different. The arrival of Céline Dion and Lady Gaga in the City of Lights has led to speculation that one — or both — of the pop stars could even take the stage Friday.

France has heightened its security ahead of the games, following a terrorist attack in Moscow in April. The raised threat level “is absolutely warranted,” said François Heisbourg, one of France’s top terrorism experts.

Stream every moment and every medal of the 2024 Paris Olympics on Peacock, starting with the opening ceremony at 12 p.m. ET Friday.

https://www.nbcnews.com/sports/olympics/opening-ceremony-olympics-paris-2024-summer-games-rcna162281

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