Paris Olympics 2024: Oops! The Olympic flag was raised upside down at opening ceremony
The Paris Olympics 2024 got off to a spectacular start in the French capital on Friday. A hot-air balloon brought an Olympic ring of fire into a rainy sky and singer Celine Dion belted from the Eiffel Tower as Paris kicked off the Olympics, with a four-hour-long, rule-breaking opening ceremony that unfurled along the Seine River.
Olympic flag raised upside down
Despite the highly choreographed event, there was an oops moment during the opening ceremony of the Paris Olympics. The Olympic flag was raised upside down and images circulating on social media clearly showed that the yellow and green rings of the logo were on the upper side, while it was being hoisted. The three rings that were supposed to be on the upper side were at the bottom of the flag.
Olympic flag raised upside down at the paris olympics
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The flag was carried into Trocadero by a cloaked rider, who earlier galloped down the Seine on a metal horse draped in a cape emblazoned with the Olympic rings.
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Best opening ceremony ever?
Other than this brief embarrassing moment, the opening ceremony of the Paris Olympics 2024 has been widely praised as one of the best, if not the best of all time.
Braving torrential rain, some 300,000 people had lined the river banks to cheer on the armada carrying competitors past the city's iconic sights: the Eiffel Tower bearing the five Olympic rings, the Louvre and Notre Dame Cathedral.
France puts up a show for the world
The wildly ambitious display was the first time the Olympic opening ceremony has been staged outside the main stadium, making it the biggest-ever launch for the "Greatest Show on Earth".
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Rain plays spoilsport?
But that gamble also made the ceremony hostage to the weather, with spectators, VIPs, and athletes alike drenched or huddling in transparent ponchos.
Paris 2024 organiser Tony Estanguet had said the opening ceremony needed to "push the limits as far as possible", showing from the start France's ambition for the Games.
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