Sudan and South Sudan Celebrated at the Paris 2024 Olympics Opening Ceremony

The opening ceremony of the Paris 2024 Olympics took place on Friday, 26 July 2024 in Paris, France. It made history as the first opening ceremony of the Olympic Summer Games to take place outside a stadium. Dozens of boats carried thousands of athletes and performers on a 6 km (3.7-mile) floating parade along the River Seine, including those representing Sudan and South Sudan.

The Parade of Nations began from the Austerlitz Bridge, sailed by Notre-Dame de Paris Cathedral and arrived near the Eiffel Tower. Along the way, it passed under bridges and gateways, including the Pont des Arts and Pont Neuf, while taking in many of the city’s most famous landmarks.

The wet evening concluded with the Eiffel Tower lighting up the night sky with dramatic technicolour. After a three-month journey from Greece to Paris, the Olympic torch was handed to former French footballer Zinedine Zidane, before being passed on to tennis stars Rafa Nadal and Serena Williams.

According to the Paris 2024 Organising Committee, about 10,500 athletes took part in the opening ceremony and 80 giant screens along the route offered intimate close-ups of the athletes and artists.

Sitting on the banks of the Seine were more than 100 heads of state and government, and more than 300,000 spectators surrounded the river. Of those, 104,000 bought tickets while it is estimated a further 222,000 got free invitations. This is in addition to those who found ways to access free vantage points along the river.

Many took to social media to celebrate the participation of Sudanese and South Sudanese athletes at the opening ceremony of the Paris 2024 Olympics.

Sudan is scheduled to compete at the Paris 2024 Olympics. It will be the country’s 13th appearance at the Summer Olympics. Three Sudanese athletes will represent Sudan at the Paris 2024 Olympics  – Rana Saadeldin will be competing in the Women’s 100 m freestyle; Ziyad Saleem will be competing in the Men’s 100 m backstroke, and Yaseen Abdalla will be competing in the Men’s marathon.

The Paris 2024 Olympics will take place from 26 July to 11 August 2024.

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