The opening ceremony for Paris 2024 was running smoothly until a huge error was made with the Olympic flag.
Athletes were paraded in front of thousands of fans in the French capital on Friday evening as they travelled on boats along the River Seine.
It was the first time in history that an opening ceremony was not held in the main stadium of the host city, as the six-kilometre (3.7 mile) route along the Seine started at Pont d’Austerlitz and finished in front of the Palais du Trocadero.
The weather wasn’t kind to the athletes or spectators as they were showered with a drizzle of rain, but the dampest squib came when the Olympic flag was raised.
Floriane Issert, a Gendarmerie non-commissioned officer, was clad in shiny silver armour as she delivered the flag on horseback to the podium.
Officers of France’s Republican Guard raised the Olympic flag, which features the iconic six coloured rings.
Meanwhile, the Olympic anthem was performed by 60 choristers from the Radio France Choir while the flag was raised.
However, none of the officials spotted that the flag was raised incorrectly with the green and yellow rings appeared at the top – meaning that it was upside down.
Unperturbed by the error with the Olympic flag, Tony Estanguet, the president of Paris 2024, stepped on stage to deliver his speech.
‘France is often said to be the country of love. One thing I know is that here, when we love, we truly love. And between France and the Games, there has been a big love story,’ he said.
‘This love story was born nearly 130 years ago, just a few kilometres from here, in the main amphitheatre of the Sorbonne University, when Pierre de Coubertin proposed the rebirth of the ancient Olympic Games. And this love story grew, with the Games of Paris, of Chamonix, Grenoble and Albertville.
‘Clearly carrying on this legacy is a huge responsibility. So, we have put out whole hearts into it. To love the Games is to court the Games for 100 years, for the chance to bring them back to Paris.
‘When you’re madly in love with the Games, you feel like you can do anything. We have been bold, doing things that have never been done before, like having this Opening Ceremony in the city, for the first time in the history of the Olympic Games.
‘Like every host country our ambition has been to help the Games grow stronger.’
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