2024-07-27 01:14:40
The Parade of Nations on the River Seine started at the Austerlitz Bridge and ended at the Place Trocadero, with an estimated 300,000 spectators watching over six kilometers.
The Latvian delegation was on the 42nd boat and the delegation’s flag holders were beach volleyball player Tīna Laura Graudiņa and 3×3 basketball player Nauris Miezis. Most of the Latvian athletes did not stay until the end of the ceremony to avoid catching a cold.
About 10,500 athletes from 204 national Olympic committees participated in the opening ceremony.
At the end of the ceremony, a light show took place near the Eiffel Tower, and then the flame of the 2024 Summer Olympics was lit, with a group of several athletes carrying out the symbolic relay. The Olympic flame, which was lit by athlete Marie-José Perec and judoka Teddy Riner, rose into the air with a hot air balloon.
The President of Latvia Edgars Rinkēvičs also watched the ceremony.
Paris and London are the only cities to have hosted the Olympic Games three times. The games were also held in Paris in 1900 and 1924.
Paris was entrusted with organizing the Olympic Games on September 13, 2017, when Paris became the organizer of the 2024 and Los Angeles – the 2028 Games. Along with Paris, Los Angeles, Hamburg, Rome and Budapest also claimed to host the 2024 Games.
The Olympic Games will take place in the French capital until August 11, and not only in the French capital, but also in 16 other places, including the French overseas territory of French Polynesia. The Games program includes 32 sports and 329 sets of medals will be distributed.
This time, only three years have passed since the previous summer sports games, as the Tokyo Games were postponed from 2020 to 2021 due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
In 2028, the athletes will gather in Los Angeles, and in 2032 – in the Australian city of Brisbane.
After the Olympic Games, the Paralympic Games will take place in Paris from August 27 to September 8.
At the Paris Games, Latvia will be represented by 29 athletes in 14 sports: 3×3 basketball, BMX supercross and freestyle, show jumping, equestrian sports, mountain biking, shooting, modern pentathlon, swimming, beach volleyball, weightlifting, road cycling, tennis and athletics.
The composition of the Latvian Olympic team at the Paris Olympic Games:
Zigmārs Raimo, Francis Lācis, Kārlis Lasmanis, Nauris Miezis (all – 3×3 basketball), Līna Mūze-Sirmā, Anete Sietiņa, Agate Caune, Gunta Vaičule, Rūta Kate Lasmane, Patriks Gailums, Gatis Cakš, Walter Kreis (all – athletics), Pavel Švetsovs (modern pentathlon), Daniils Bobrovs, Ieva Maļukas (both – swimming), Djeja Patrika (show jumping), Toms Skujins, Anastasija Carbonāri (both – road cycling), Mārtiņš Blums (mountain biking), Veronika Monika Stūriška, Kristen Krieger ( both – BMX supercross), Ernests Szebold (BMX freestyle), Tīna Graudiņa, Anastasija Samoilova (both – beach volleyball), Aļona Ostapenko (tennis), Kristaps Neretnieks (equestrian), Agate Rašmane, Lauris Strautmanis (both – shot put), Ritvar Suharev (weightlifting).
2024-07-27 01:14:40