The Paris Olympics officially begin with a colorful opening ceremony

Thousands of athletes and spectators lined the streets of Paris to officially open the 2024 Olympic Games in a colourful opening ceremony on Friday.

The opening ceremony began with a giant column of blue, white and red smoke in the colours of the French national flag during the Parade of Nations from the Austerlitz Bridge next to the Jardin des Plantes.

The Nigerian team and other athletes aboard boats traveled along the course of the Seine River from east to west, taking in several Olympic venues, including the Parc Urbane La Concorde, the Invalides and the Grand Palais.

Giant jets of water gushed out of the river as the Greek delegation, as always, was the first boat to pass under the bridge and along the 6-kilometer (3.7-mile) route.

French and Real Madrid legend Zinedine Zidane with the Olympic torch

Some 220,000 invited and security-controlled spectators filled the upper tiers on the banks of the Seine, and another 104,000 paying spectators watched the spectacle from the lower bank of the river and around the Trocadéro.

The parade ended on the Pont Iena, which links the Eiffel Tower on the left bank of the Seine to the Trocadéro district on the right bank.

Zidane hands the Olympic torch to Nadal

As is tradition, French flag bearers Florent Manaudou and Mélina Robert-Michon took the Olympic oath on behalf of all Paris 2024 athletes, a tradition dating back to Antwerp 1920.

Key dignitaries present at the opening ceremony included French President Emmanuel Macron, music stars Lady Gaga, Celion Dion, Olympic great Carl Lewis, football legend Zinedine Zidane and tennis icon Rafael Nadal, among others.

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