PARIS: The Paris Olympic Games fully kicked off Friday with an opening ceremony featuring a parade of boats carrying athletes from over 200 countries and regions on the Seine River.

French President Emmanuel Macron declared the Paris Games open, and the country’s judoka Teddy Riner and former track and field athlete Marie-Jose Perec lit the Olympic cauldron. It is the third time that the French capital hosts the Olympic Games, after 1900 and 1924. Some 11,000 Olympians will compete in 329 events across 32 sports over 17 days through Aug. 11.

Japan was the 93rd delegation in the procession of boats on the river flowing through the heart of Paris, led by flagbearers Misaki Emura, a fencer, and Shigeyuki Nakarai, a breaker known as “Shigekix.” The country did not name a delegation captain.

Japan, which sent its largest-ever delegation to a foreign Olympics with over 400 athletes, is aiming to net 20 gold medals at the Paris Games, a record high in an Olympics held outside the Asian nation. Japan grabbed 27 gold medals in the Tokyo Olympics in 2021. The first Japanese medal at the Paris Games will be the country’s 500th Summer Olympic medal.

The parade on a 6-kilometer stretch of the Seine and the cauldron-lighting at the Trocadero near the Eiffel Tower, held in rainy weather, marked the first time that a Summer Games opening ceremony was held outside an Olympic facility.

This year’s Olympics is the first held without spectator restrictions related to COVID-19. The Tokyo Summer Games, postponed by a year from 2020, was held behind closed doors, and the 2022 Beijing Winter Games limited audiences to invited guests and had other restrictions.

The Paris Games comes amid growing global division. Russian athletes are unable to represent their country due to Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine, and the 15 athletes from Russia, taking part as individual neutral athletes, and athletes from Belarus, a supporter of Russia in the conflict, were barred from participating in the Seine parade. Ukraine sent its smallest-ever Summer Games delegation at roughly 140 people.

Palestine demanded the exclusion of Israel from the Paris Games over its attacks on Gaza, but the International Olympic Committee rejected the call.

“As Olympians, we care for each other. We do not only respect each other, we live in solidarity with each other,” IOC President Thomas Bach said in a speech at the opening ceremony. “In a world torn apart by wars and conflicts, it is thanks to this solidarity that we can all come together tonight.”

A record 37 athletes will take part in the Games as members of the refugee team.

JIJI Press