PARIS 2024 OLYMPIC 26TH JULY STARTED

AS IT HAPPENED

Opening Ceremony: Olympic flame rises over Paris as Céline Dion sings "Hymne à l'Amour” here. 

The Olympic flame rose over Paris Friday night in a floating cauldron lit by French athletes Marie-José Pérec and Teddy Riner at the height of the Opening Ceremony. Canadian music icon Céline Dion brought down the curtain by giving her first public performance in four years, singing Edith Piaf’s "Hymne à l'Amour” from the Eiffel Tower. Worsening rain did little to dampen the enthusiasm of hundreds of thousands of spectators lining the banks of the River Seine as a floating parade carried nearly 7,000 athletes throughout the night. Read our liveblog to see how the Opening Ceremony unfolded.

The Olympic cauldron is seen lit and and rising in a hot-air balloon beside the Eiffel Tower during the Opening Ceremony.

Highlights:

The Opening Ceremony for the 2024 Paris Olympics started at 7:30pm with a floating parade carrying nearly 7,000 athletes from around the world up the River Seine past the French capital's most famous landmarks. The ceremony lasted about three hours and 45 minutes.

The show was attended by more than 80 heads of state and government and more than 300,000 spectators watched from the river's banks, organisers said.

Security officials say as many as 45,000 police and thousands of soldiers and private security guards have been tasked with securing the ceremony and sporting events that will be spread across Paris.

Lady Gaga performed an iconic French cabaret classic as the ceremony opened Friday, and Franco-Malian singer Aya Nakamura sang her hit song "Djadja".