The opening ceremony in Paris was historic in numerous ways Friday night. One of those ways was through the weather as it rained for the first time at an Opening Ceremony since 1952.
The rain was coming down hard for most of the ceremony and many athletes could be seen with umbrellas or rain ponchos as the boats paraded with the athletes in them down the Seine River, marking the first time ever that the opening ceremony did not take place in a stadium. Typically, the athletes walk throughout a stadium while today they were able to stand on boats that also featured seats.
The last time it rained during an opening ceremony was back in 1952 at the Games in Helsinki, the capital of Finland. That opening ceremony was held inside of a stadium that did not have a roof, meaning spectators and athletes paraded out in the rain as well.
Over one inch of rain fell during the ceremony today in Paris and rainfall is expected to continue for the next several hours and into tomorrow morning. The rain forecast diminishes throughout tomorrow but there is a chance for the rain to continue into the late afternoon.
Notably, rain has been an issue for Paris in recent months and has been a factor in the E. Coli levels of the Seine. The river will be home to the open water competition set to take place in just under two weeks while the triathlon event begins this week. If the races were today, the E. Coli levels would have been too high, postponing the competition.
Everybody’s gonna catch a cold
I thought the rain actually added a certain beauty to the ceremony, which was spectacular.
And the Olympic flag was raised upside down.
The whole thing was upside
Need to do away with the opening and closing ceremonies. Just have parade of nations at the start and parade of athletes at the end
Pretty emblematic of how the organization and planning for the Olympics has gone so far
Can we just enjoy the games