Paris Olympics opening ceremony on river Seine will last nearly 4 hours

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The countdown clock, set up on the banks of the Seine river and in front of the Eiffel Tower, reads 100 days before the Paris 2024 Olympic Games opening ceremony,Tuesday, April 16, 2024 in Paris. The Paris 2024 Olympic Games will run from July 26 to Aug. 11(AP Photo/Christophe Ena)

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The purple athletics track at the Olympic Stadium, currently known as Stade de France, is being installed, in Saint-Denis, north of Paris, Tuesday, April 9, 2024. The Olympic Stadium will host the athletics events at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games. (AP Photo/Aurelien Morissard, File)

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The Invalides monument, top, the Esplanade des Invalides and the Alexandre III bridge are seen in Paris, France, Tuesday, July 11, 2023. In 2024, the Esplanade des Invalides will be the stage for the archery and para archery events, the Marathon (women’s / men’s) and rod cycling events of the Olympic Games. (AP Photo/Christophe Ena, File)

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Constructions are under way at the Trocadero gardens, Sunday, April 14, 2024 in Paris. The Trocadero will host road cycling and some athletic competitions at the Paris 2024 Olympic but will also the place for athletes to celebrate the Games. (AP Photo/Aurelien Morissard, File)

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The first torch bearer, Greek olympic gold medalist Stefanos Douskos, right, passes the flame to first French torchbearer, three-time Olympic medallist Laure Manaudou, after the official ceremony of the flame lighting for the Paris Olympics, at the Ancient Olympia site, Greece, Tuesday, April 16, 2024. The flame will be carried through Greece for 11 days before being handed over to Paris organizers on April 26. (AP Photo/Thanassis Stavrakis)

By JEROME PUGMIRE

PARIS (AP) — With sunset and moonlight gleaming on the river, the grandiose opening ceremony for the Paris Olympics will last nearly four hours.

A total of 205 delegations will parade on more than 80 boats on the Seine. The ceremony will drift slowly from east to west, bridge to bridge, snaking six kilometers (3.7 miles) from Pont d’Austerlitz to Pont d’Iéna.

Proceedings begin at 3:45 p.m. and finish at 11:15 p.m. local time with artistic performances preceding the athletes’ parade.

The athletes will motor past about 320,000 fans wedged in behind security cordons on upper and lower tiers on the embankments. Others will gaze at giant screens beaming images of the ambitious ceremony.

“For one evening, the Seine will be transformed into a giant open-air ceremony,” Paris Games director of ceremonies Marie-Catherine Ettori said during a media briefing on Thursday.

Once the 10,500 athletes have disembarked from their boats, the final part of the ceremony takes place at the Trocadéro plaza overlooking the Eiffel Tower.

Amid the anticipation of seeing something so unique, there are tensions surrounding the safety of the ceremony heading into the Games starting on July 26.

A worker carries a suitcase in the "baggage factory", where athletes' luggages for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games will be collected, are seen in Charles de Gaulle airport, in Roissy-en-France, north of Paris, Tuesday, April 23, 2024 in Paris. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus)

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FILE - Competitors swim in the Seine River during the Paris Triathlon competition in Paris Sunday, July 10, 2011. Paris mayor Anne Hidalgo saidTuesday April 23, 2024 she was confident water quality will be up to the Olympics standards this summer _ and that she'll be able to prove it by swimming there, possibly alongside President Emmanuel Macron. (AP Photo/Lionel Cironneau, File )

Paris mayor is confident that water quality will allow Olympic swimming in the River Seine

FILE - United States' Allisha Gray (15) heads to the basket past Evgeniia Frolkina (16), of the Russian Olympic Committee, during a women's 3-on-3 gold medal basketball game at the 2020 Summer Olympics, July 28, 2021, in Tokyo, Japan. Gray is glad to be back playing 3x3 with an eye toward being a member of the team at the Paris Olympics this summer. She is the only player returning from the foursome that took home the gold at the Tokyo Games three years ago. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson, File)

Olympic gold medalist Allisha Gray hopes to be part of US 3x3 team in Paris Games

Late last month, France raised its security readiness to the highest level after a deadly attack at a Russian concert hall and the Islamic State’s claim of responsibility.

French President Emmanuel Macron struck a cautious note this week when he said the unprecedented open-air event, which is expected to bring 100 world leaders to the embankments, could be shifted to a more conventional opening ceremony at the Stade de France, the national stadium, if the security threat is deemed too high.

Without disputing what Macron said, France’s Sports Minister Amélie Oudéa-Castéra and others remained optimistic the show will go on the Seine.

“We are heavily working on plan A which remains the central scenario and the very, very dominant scenario,” Oudéa-Castéra said at a “ 100 Days To Go ” Olympic event on Wednesday. “We keep working on that fantastic ceremony on the River Seine.”

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AP Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/2024-paris-olympic-games