Olympic Opening Ceremonies Will Look A Lot Different…And Be A Whole Lot Wetter

The Opening Ceremonies for the Paris Olympics are underway and will be re-broadcasted in primetime on NBC Friday night.

The Olympians will be making a unique water entrance by boat this time around.   They’ll board about 90 boats and sail up the Seine through the heart of Paris to the Trocadero.  Team USA will be sailing the Seine adorned in Ralph Lauren navy blue jackets and ties, light blue striped dress shirts, blue-washed jeans, and suede beige shoes.  The jackets will feature the US Olympic team logo on one side and the Ralph Lauren logo on the other.   There will be red and white striping along the cuffs, wrists, and above the pockets.  Meanwhile, the dress shirt will have the same logos.    To finish off the outfit, athletes will wear a belt with the American flag and ‘Team USA’ in blue and white.

Tennis star Coco Gauff and basketball star LeBron James will be aboard the boat and were voted as the flagbearers for the Team USA.

More than 10,000 athletes in total representing 206 national Olympic committees will launch on the various boats from Pont D’Austerlitz and sail past Parisian landmarks like the Notre-Dame, the Hôtel de Ville, and the Louvre and finish the boat parade at Pont D’Iéna in front of the Trocadero.   The entire voyage will run about 3.730 miles.

The Parade of Nations will follow Olympic tradition: It will begin with Greece since it is the birthplace of the Games and finish with the host country.  The order that follows is by design:   The French NOC will be preceded by Australia and the United States because those are the nations hosting the 2032 Brisbane Olympics and 2028 Los Angeles Olympics.

Closing ceremonies for the Olympics and the Paralympics will be held and broadcast on Sunday August 11th.

PHOTO CREDIT:  Boston.com