Paris 2024 Olympics: the best photos of the incredible opening ...

By Alexander Martin

"Opens the Games." Paris 2024's ambition was to open a new page in the history of the Games. On July 26th 2024, that page began to be written with a spectacle like no other. At the end of a memorable evening, the 33rd Olympic Games of the modern era got underway. Here's a look back at an evening that will go down in history.

Picture by 2024 Getty Images

Inevitably, the ceremony kicked off with a video of Zinedine Zidane sprinting through the Paris streets, leaving a pile of tourists and café tables in his wake like a succession of Italian defenders, as he weaved his way to the Seine.

And the legendary French World Cup-winner reappeared later on to receive the Olympic flame from the hands of a masked flag-bearer to cheers from the volunteers and athletes.

Picture by 2024 Getty Images

Paris promised global stars, and Paris delivered.

Lady Gaga - who else - made the first show-stopping appearance of the night. Dressed all in black and emerging from behind two giant pink ostrich feathers on a gold staircase, the American superstar performed a Monroe-inspired dance routine to Mon Truc en Plume, before sitiing at a grand piano on the bank of the Seine, to serenade the crowd.

Picture by 2024 Getty Images

The honour of lighting the Olympic cauldron was shared by Teddy Riner — the triple Olympic Judo Gold medallist — and, Laura Flessel-Colovic — the Olympic fencing champion and ex-Sports Minister. A touching moment that was in keeping with the theme of solidarity and diversity that ran through the whole ceremony.

Picture by Anne-Christine Poujoulat - Pool/Getty Images

As the Olympic cauldron was raised above the Parisian skyline, the gathered crowds turned their attention once more to the question that has been on everyone's lips for weeks now: is there still time for Céline Dion make an appearance?

Picture by Jamie Squire/Getty Images

Right on cue, Céline appeared below the Olympic rings on the opposite bank of the Seine, to perform a moving rendition of Hymne à l'Amour — Edith Piaf's definitive tribute to unconditional love.

A fitting end to an opening ceremony that was a celebration of love, solidarity and diversity in all their forms from beginning to end.