His Highness the Amir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani yesterday graced the opening ceremony of the 2024 Paris Olympics held on River Seine in Paris as the French capital welcomed the world’s athletes for the 33rd Summer Games.Earlier yesterday, His Highness the Amir attended a special reception for the 2024 Olympic Games at the Elysee Palace. The reception was hosted by French President Emmanuel Macron who later declared the Games open.The reception was attended by a number of heads of state and representatives from the National Olympic Committees from around the world.Qatar’s medal hopefuls - led by global track and field star Mutaz Barshim - also featured in the athletes parade last night that was conducted atop boats carrying sporting representatives of more than 200 countries and territories.For the first time ever, an opening ceremony of the Olympic Games ventured beyond the confines of a stadium.IOC president Thomas Bach delivered a moving speech at the end of the ceremony urging those watching live to ‘dream big’.Besides Barshim, the Qatari athletes delegation includes Abderrahman Samba, Abubaker Haydar, Bassem Hemeida, Ismail Dawood, Ammar Ismail, Saif Mohamed, and Shahad Mohamed in athletics, Saeed Abu Sharab and Rashid Saleh al-Athba in shooting, Fares Ibrahim in weightlifting, Cherif Younousse and Ahmed Tijan in beach volleyball and Abdulaziz al-Obaidly in swimming.Barshim, who won a silver medal at the London 2012 and Rio 2016 Olympics and a gold medal at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, will be aiming to retain his Olympic gold in what might be his last participation.While the celebration of French culture, fashion, and history captivated the 300,000-strong crowd along the banks of River Seine, inclement weather yesterday prompted hundreds to depart prematurely from the ceremony held under grey skies.“Despite the rain, the ceremony was fantastic,” Ohio resident Avid Pureval, 34, said yesterday. “It was refreshing to have it on the river instead of a stadium. It was unique and interesting,” Pureval added.Unprecedented security measures were implemented for the opening ceremony. A massive security perimeter encircling both sides of the Seine River was guarded by a combined force of over 77,000 personnel, including police, military and private security.The show kicked off by presenting a fabricated storyline. A pre-recorded sequence showed French football star Zinedine Zidane carrying the Olympic flame on a high-speed dash through Paris, culminating in a unique metro journey. Michael Phelps and Martin Fourcade, the two most decorated Olympians ever, took centre stage to reveal the gold, silver, and bronze medals.Paris is hosting the Olympic Games for the first time in a century, with over 10,500 athletes competing for 329 gold medals.Some of the biggest sporting names to feature in the Paris Games include American gymnast Simone Biles, tennis star Novak Djokovic of Serbia, Jamaican sprint queen Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce, sprint star Caeleb Dressel of the US, Kenyan long distance giant Eliud Kipchoge, American basketball icon LeBron James, Australian swimming superstar Katie Ledecky, Japanese tennis star Naomi Osaka, Great Britain’s skateboarding giant Sky Brown and Japanese gymnast Daiki Hashimoto.The first gold of the Games will be awarded today (Saturday). The closing ceremony of the Paris Olympics is scheduled for August 11. Page 12, Sport Pages 1, 2, 4

Coco Gauff joked on Thursday that she is worried about the height difference with her fellow Team USA flagbearer LeBron James, ahead of the Paris Olympics opening ceremony. Gauff was selected alongside NBA superstar James by her fellow US athletes to carry the flag during today’s ceremony along the river Seine. James is a foot taller – 2.06m (6ft 9ins) to 1.75m (5ft 9ins) – than the tennis world number two. “I am a little bit concerned about the height difference,” she said. “I thought it was two flags but I saw pictures (of previous Olympics) and they’re holding it together.”