PARIS, France — The Seine River is normally a busy stretch of water with tourist on river boats getting a view of Paris from the water, and Paris 2024 Organizing Committee CEO Etienne Thobois says it’s a ride Olympic athletes will also take.
“Perfectly embodies these Games to make wide-open, and that’s going to be fantastic experience,” Thobois said.
For the first time, the opening ceremony for the Summer Games won't be held in a stadium. Instead, a massive flotilla of about 160 river boats will float down the Seine.
“It will have more than 90 boats with the athletes, and then there will be broadcast boats, security boats,” Thobois said.
River boat companies like Vedettes de Paris are taking part by using their boats in the ceremony. Marketing director Julie Devernay said they've been training for months to make sure the coordination is in perfect time.
“The big challenge for everyone is to coordinate the traffic on the water,” she said. “The distance between each boat and choreograph the boats on the river.”
Paris Olympics opening ceremony
The opening ceremony of the 2024 Paris Olympics will be held Friday, July 26.
Instead of being held in a traditional stadium, the opening ceremony will take the form of a 4-mile-long floating procession down the Seine River.
NBC will begin live coverage of the ceremony at 10 a.m. MT on Friday, July 26.
The opening ceremony will be broadcast on NBC, Peacock, NBCOlympics.com, NBC.com and the NBC/NBC Sports apps.
Mike Tirico, Kelly Clarkson and Peyton Manning will serve as hosts of NBC’s opening ceremony coverage. "Today" hosts Savannah Guthrie and Hoda Kotb will also be part of the broadcast team.