By Di Henry

From the sewers to the rooftops, this event was very French, fanciful and provocative with more surprises than expected and it certainly got conversations started. That is how Di Henry summed up the Paris 2024 Opening Ceremony

ASE spoke to Di about the Paris Opening Ceremony with a focus on how the final section of the torch relay was weaved in and out of the event via live and pre-recorded segments.

Traditionally the torch relay only joins the opening ceremony at the very end. Di pointed out that by taking this course the organisers managed to avoid the issues that plagued the final section of the torch relay in Atlanta as the athletes struggled to get to the stadium through the traffic. Di was in Atlanta to observe the 1996 Torch Relay after being appointed to run the relay for Sydney 2000.

However, this is not first time the Olympic Torch has arrived by river. The torch travelled up the Parramatta River from the Sydney Opera House to the Sydney Olympic Stadium in 2000, and the Queen’s Baton travelled up The Yarra to the MCG for the Melbourne Commonwealth Games in 2006.

By taking the torch on a journey through the Metro, across the rooftops, through iconic buildings such as The Louvre and then along the Seine the organisers, in Di’s words, created “a love letter to Paris and to France”

The whimsy was evident from the opening with a runner turning up at the empty Stade de France with the torch, to then hand it over to Zinédine Zidane, a legend of French and world football, who headed into the city and onto the metro, which breaks down. Three kids then head into the sewers with the torch (referencing Phantom of the Opera) to be met the by a masked man.

During the ceremony the torch was carried by a group of parkour runners and we figure there was probably more than one. Fortunately most of their journey was pre-recorded – just imagine running over those rooftops in that rain.

After visiting various cultural institutions, a production of Les Misérables and triggering various production elements, the final visit for the parkour was to the Debilly footbridge and the party hosted by Dionysus (the Greek god of wine, in tribute to France’s wine industry and the ancient Greek Olympics).

The masked torchbearer made his final appearance handing over the Olympic flame to Zinedine Zidane, who handed it to Spanish tennis player Rafael Nadal. He carried the flame up the Seine by boat along with other Olympic champions Carl Lewis, Serena Williams, and Nadia Comăneci.

A number of French Olympic champions carried the torch to the Olympic cauldron, a ring of 40 computerised LEDs and 200 high-pressure water aerosol spray dispensers which was topped by a 30-metre-tall helium sphere resembling a hot air balloon, rising in the air, reminiscent of the Montgolfier brothers’ experiments leading to the first hot air balloon flight in 1783.

There has been criticism about the athletes parading on boats but Di pointed out that they are usually only involved in the latter part of the ceremony, at least this way they became an integral part rather than the finale.

Di pointed out that a lot more scrutiny would have applied to OH&S in Australia than what was apparent in Paris, quoting the heavy metal band who appeared to be freestanding on platforms protruding from window ledges, subsequent photos show they were in fact secured from behind.

Di praised the experimentation and fanciful approach and the fact they didn’t shy away from history, along with the arts and literature references, and France has a rich history to mine in that area. Although she noted – no reference to Napoleon.

This must have been a very hard production to rehearse, and there was no plan B for rain.

Di’s big question? What’s in store for the closing ceremony, which is usually more of a celebration?