2024 Paris Olympics Opening Parade held on River Seine, Paris

The 33rd Summer Olympics opened with a first-of-its-kind opening ceremony in the French capital city of Paris on 26 July 2024. For the first time in the Summer Olympics' history, the traditional opening ceremony was not held in a stadium but in the open on the Seine.

Out of the 117-strong Indian side, 78 participated in the opening ceremony. The Indian contingent was led by four-time Olympian table tennis player Sharath Kamal and two-time Olympian badminton player P.V. Sindhu.

Paris will host the 33rd Summer Olympics from 26 July to 11 August and Paralympics for the physically challenged athletes from 28 August to 8 September 2024.

It is the third time Paris is hosting the Summer Olympics, having hosted in 1900,1924 and now in 2024.

Parade of Nations on River Seine 

• The opening ceremony was conducted on the Seine river, on whose banks the city of Paris lies. About 6800 athletes on 90 boats traveled a 6 km route through Paris.
• As always, Greece was the first country to lead the opening ceremony, being the birthplace of the Olympic games about 3,000 years ago. The host country, France, was the last to enter the opening ceremony.
• The Indian contingent was 84th in the order, and it shared its boat with Iran and the Indonesian teams. 
• The Indian athletes wore traditional attire designed by the famous fashion designer Tarun Tahiliani. The men wore traditional kurta Bundi sets, while the women wore sarees.

Mascot and Motto of the 2024 Paris Olympics 

• The 2024 Paris Olympics Mascot is Olympic Phryge. It is designed on the traditional French Phyrigian hat that represents the symbols of freedom and the French Republic.
• It is coloured in blue, white and red, representing the flag of France with the golden Paris 2024 logo emblazoned across its chest.
• Alone we go faster, but together we go further,”  is the motto of the Paris Olympics and the Paralympic Games. 

About Indian Contingent in the Paris Olympics 

India has sent 117 athletes to the Paris Games, the second-largest contingent ever after the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games, which saw the participation of 121 athletes. 

In the Paris Olympics, 70 male and 47 female Indian athletes are participating in the Paris Olympics.

The United States, with 640 athletes, has the maximum number of athletes competing in the Paris Olympics, followed by host France, which has 608 athletes.

India to participate in 16 events 

Out of the 32 sporting disciplines in the Paris Olympics, India will participate in 16: Men’s Hockey, archery, badminton, boxing, wrestling, equestrian, golf, athletics, tennis, judo, rowing, sailing, shooting, swimming, table tennis, and weightlifting.

Maximum 29 athletes will participate in athletics, while 21 will participate in the various shooting events.

Breaking, Surfing, sports climbing, and Skateboarding are the four new sports to be included in the 2024 Paris Summer Olympics.

Youngest and Oldest Indian Athlete 

Veteran Tennis player Rohan Boppana is the oldest Indian athlete at the age of 44 years while the 14-year-old swimmer Dhinidhi Desinghu is the youngest member of the Indian contingent.

India and Medals in the Olympics

• India has won 35 medals in the Summer Olympics so far, with Norman Pritchard being the first medalist. Pritchard won two silver medals at the 1900 Paris Olympics—in the men’s 200-meter race and 200-meter hurdles. 
• The men’s hockey team has won 12 medals - 8 gold,1 silver and 3 bronze medals. It won a bronze medal in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
• After independence, KD Jadhav won India's first individual medal in the Olympics, a bronze in the weightlifting event at the 1952 Helsinki Olympics. 
• The first individual gold was won by Abhinav Bindra in shooting in the 2008 Beijing Olympics.
• Neeraj Chopra won the only second individual gold medal for India in the Olympics in the javelin throw event at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
• Wrestler Sushil Kumar and ace female badminton player PV Sindhu are the only two Indian athletes to have won more than one individual medal in the summer olympics. 
• Sushil Kumar won bronze in the 2008 Beijing Olympics and a silver in the 2012 London Olympics.
• Ace female badminton player PV Sindhu won a silver medal at the 2016 Rio Olympics and a bronze medal at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
• In the Paris Olympics, five Tokyo Olympic medalists are competing. Gold medallist javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra, silver medalist weightlifter Mirabai Chanu, bronze medalist boxer Lovlina Borgohain, bronze medalist PV Sindhu and bronze-winning men’s hockey team