look news india
Paris, July 27 (HS). A group of 78 Indian athletes and officials, led by flag-bearer PV Sindhu and veteran table tennis star Sharath Kamal, arrived at the Parade of Nations on the River Seine at the opening ceremony of the Paris Olympics 2024 on Friday.
During the parade of nations, Indian athletes and officials, dressed in specially designed traditional attire, waved to the fans. Even though it was raining in Paris, the enthusiasm of India's athletes and officials did not wane.
Iconic French midfielder Zinedine Zidane made an appearance in a pre-recorded video carrying the Olympic torch to start the opening ceremony. From the Stade de France, he ran and picked up the torch.
The first 18 delegations were introduced in the Parade of Nations from the Pont d'Austerlitz. The parade was led by Greece, the founding nation of the modern Olympic Games, dressed in their country's themed costume. Greece chose NBA star Giannis Antetkounmpo as their male flag bearer, along with race walker Antigoni Antrimpioti.
Lady Gaga gave a stunning performance when she stood on a grand staircase and sang Mon truc en plumes, an original song by Zizi Jeanmaire. Jeanmaire was a French ballet dancer and actress who died in 2020 at the age of 96. Heavy-metal band Gojira mesmerized fans with their electric performance in the rain. Gojira was followed by opera singer Marina Viotti.
At the 33rd Summer Games, 117 athletes are part of the Indian contingent across 16 sporting disciplines, including 70 men and 47 women. They will participate in 69 events and compete for 95 medals. The sixteen sporting disciplines include archery, athletics, badminton, boxing, equestrian, golf, hockey, judo, rowing, sailing, shooting, swimming, table tennis and tennis.
India will get its first chance to win medals during the mixed team air rifle matches to be held at the National Shooting Center in Chateauroux on Saturday. Two Indian teams, Sandeep Singh/Elavenil Valarivan and Arjun Babuta/Ramita Jindal, will compete in this event. Manu Bhaker will also participate in two individual pistol events and the 10m air pistol mixed team competition.
Key Indian athletes during the Parade of Nations:
Archery: Deepika Kumari and Tarundeep Rai.
Badminton: PV Sindhu
Boxing: Lovlina Borgohain
Horse riding: Anush Agarwal
Golf: Shubhankar Sharma
Hockey: Krishan Pathak, Nilakanta Sharma and Jugraj Singh
Judo: Paintbrush
Manseeling: Vishnu Saravanan and Nethra Kumanan
Shooting: Anjum Moudgil, Sift Kaur Samra, Aishwarya Pratap Singh Tomar and Aneesh.
Swimming: Srihari Nataraj and Dhinidhi Desinghu
Table Tennis: Sharath Kamal and Manika Batra
Tennis: Rohan Bopanna, Sumit Nagal and Sriram Balaji.
