Olympics Briefing: Soaking Up the Start

After rain doused the opening parade, we turn to the sports.

View in browser|nytimes.com July 27, 2024 Follow along during the day's action with live coverage from The Athletic. Gabriela Bhaskar for The New York Times By Andrew Keh Reporting from Paris Trust me when I tell you that it was dry in Paris this week. It was warm. It was sunny. It was maybe a little muggy at times. But it was nice. It was dry. Then came Friday night, and the skies turned gray, and from those gray skies there fell an hourslong rainstorm that happened to coincide, almost perfectly, with the opening ceremony of these Olympic Games as it unwound spectacularly along the Seine. It was a bummer, in a way. And yet after the nerve-racking train disruptions that rattled France on Friday morning — the result of a set of coordinated arson attacks — it was a relief to see the ceremony go off without a hitch. Hundreds of thousands of people got wet, yes. But we saw all the hallmarks of a traditional ceremony — waving athletes, saccharine performances, borderline inscrutable cultural references — while having as a backdrop some of the world's most breathtaking landmarks, like the Eiffel Tower, the Cathedral of Notre-Dame and the Louvre. So I'm going to bang my gavel and declare this ambitious, outside-the-box ceremony a success. I was in the crowd along the Seine, huddled under my umbrella. Most people around me had smiles plastered on their faces. As the sky got darker, and the crowd got wetter, many left to find shelter. But many others ditched their umbrellas and embraced the moment, smiling and shimmying in the rain. Either way, that is all over now. The city can exhale. Now come the marquee events, and our focus can turn away, finally, from the intricacies of urban crowd management and back over to sports. The spotlight on Saturday will be on the women's 400-meter freestyle swimming final, where a showdown is expected among the Australian Ariarne Titmus, the Canadian Summer McIntosh and the American Katie Ledecky, one of the biggest stars of the Games. But there's also a gold medal match in rugby sevens, which I saw live for the first time this week and grew quickly enamored with, and a handful of other sports. We'll have reporters fanned out all over the place. So stay tuned. TODAY'S TOP STORY Daniel Berehulak/The New York Times Doused by Rain, Paris Opens Its Games With a Boat Party on the Seine Undeterred by arson attacks on rail lines earlier in the day, the Parade of Nations continued beneath a glittering Eiffel Tower, where Celine Dion belted out a love anthem. By Roger Cohen Lingering Questions The Olympics are a gargantuan event, and it's natural to have a million questions about them as they begin. Here's a few you might have been wondering about, with answers from Times journalists: Why in the world would Paris, or any city, want to go through all this? Who are all these people The New York Times has in Paris this summer? Is there seriously an 11-year-old athlete at these Games? MORE OLYMPICS COVERAGE Rail Sabotage Blights an Olympic Moment for France The arson attacks were carefully planned to cause maximum disruption on a train network so vast it is virtually impossible to fully secure. By Catherine Porter and Aurelien Breeden The French Swimmer Who Is Carrying His Country on His Back Léon Marchand, who has the potential to win medals in four individual events, bears much of the weight of France's expectations. He is ready, he says, but adds, "it does feel weird." By Jenny Vrentas Will These Sensational Skateboarding Tricks Win Japan Olympic Gold? They have landed some of the most difficult tricks in the history of skateboarding. But in Paris, they may have a problem. By Pablo Robles, Mike Ives and Kiuko Notoya Some of our Olympics coverage — including these dispatches — will also be available in Spanish. You can read them here. Need help? Review our newsletter help page or contact us for assistance. You received this email because you signed up for Olympics Briefing from The New York Times. To stop receiving Olympics Briefing, unsubscribe. To opt out of other promotional emails from The Times, including those regarding The Athletic, manage your email settings. To opt out of updates and offers sent from The Athletic, submit a request. Subscribe to The TimesGet The New York Times app Connect with us on: Change Your EmailPrivacy PolicyContact UsCalifornia Notices The New York Times Company. 620 Eighth Avenue New York, NY 10018