Paris Olympics 2024: PV Sindhu and Sharath Kamal led India at the Parade of Nations on the River Seine. Sandwiched between some electrifying performances from top artists, the floating parade enthralled fans at the opening ceremony on Friday, July 26. Sindhu and Sharath looked thrilled as they had the honour of leading India’s contingent on the opening day of the Paris Games.
Even as rain lashed the city on Friday evening, the athletes’ and the artists’ spirits were not dampened as they continued with the show of culture, strength, fun, and courage. As many as 78 athletes and members of the support staff were on a boat on the Seine River, representing India at the Parade of Nations. Greece was the team to lead the way in the Parade of Nations, which began at 11 am after football great Zinedine Zidane brought back the Olympic torch from Stade de France to the actual venue of the opening ceremony — a 6km stretch along River Seine from Austerlitz Bridge to Trocadéro, in front of the iconic Eiffel Tower.
Live Updates: Paris Olympics Opening Ceremony
Badminton players and tennis players, including Lakshya Sen and Sumit Nagal, were part of the Indian contingent at the Parade of Nations. Legendary Prakash Padukone was also in the Indian boat as the country flaunted its might in front of the global audience.
The opening ceremony featured some stunning performances from pop icon Lady Gaga. Aya Nakamura, one of France’s greatest pop stars and the orchestra of the Republican Guard performed at the Pont des Arts.
The Indian athletes looked thrilled as they had a first-hand view of one of the most unique opening ceremonies.
INDIA AT PARIS OLYMPICS OPENING CEREMONY: PHOTOS
India’s Parade of Nations came after Prime Minister Narendra Modi wished the Indian contingent all the success for the Games.
NOTABLE ATHLETES AT PARADE OF NATIONS
Archery: Deepika Kumari and Tarundeep Rai.
Badminton: PV Sindhu
Boxing: Lovlina Borgohain
Equestrian: Anush Agarwalla
Golf: Shubhankar Sharma
Hockey: Krishan Pathak, Nilakanta Sharma and Jugraj Singh
Judo: Tulika Mann
Sailing: Vishnu Saravanan and Nethra Kumanan
Shooting: Anjum Moudgil, Sift Kaur Samra, Aishwary Pratap Singh Tomar and Anish.
Swimming: Srihari Nataraj and Dhinidhi Desinghu
Table Tennis: Sharath Kamal and Manika Batra
Tennis: Rohan Bopanna, Sumit Nagal and Sriram Balaji.
Hasibur Rahaman is a passionate sports journalist. He covers everything from cricket to field hockey, delivering up-to-the-minute updates and in-depth analysis of sporting events, both within India and on the international stage.
