Paris Olympics begins with ambitious, sprawling opening ceremony on the River Seine

PARIS — Celebrating its reputation as a cradle of revolution, Paris kicked off its first Summer Olympics in a century on Friday with a rule-breaking opening ceremony studded with stars and fantasy, showcasing the city’s resilience as authorities dealt with suspected acts of sabotage that targeted France’s high-speed rail network.

Widespread travel disruptions triggered by what French officials said were coordinated arson attacks on high-speed rail lines and rains in Paris had dampened the mood ahead of the ceremony.

But as global audiences tuned in, the show’s spectacular launch at 7:30 p.m. lifted spirits. A humorous short film featured soccer icon Zinedine Zidane. Plumes of French blue, white and red smoke followed. And Lady Gaga sang, in French, with dancers shaking pink plumed pompoms, adding a cabaret feel to the start of what is expected to be a more than three-hour show.

Crowds crammed along the River Seine and watching from balconies “oohed” and “ahhed” as Olympic teams began parading in boats along the waterway.

[Arsonists attack French high-speed rail system hours before opening ceremonies of the Paris Olympics]

The stakes for France were immense. Dozens of heads of state and government were in town and the world was watching as Paris turned itself into a giant open-air theater.

Paris’ ceremony was unfurling along the River Seine, turning the city’s iconic monuments into stages for dancers, singers and other artists.

Rains that soaked spectators and athletes and travel chaos in Paris train stations highlighted the risks of Paris’ bold choices. The sprawling ceremony gave organizers bigger crowds to transport, organize and safeguard than would have been the case if they’d followed the example of previous Olympic host cities that opened with stadium shows.

Still, as the show got underway, optimism soared that Paris – true to its motto that speaks of being unsinkable – might just win its gambles.

While evening rains forecast by national weather service Meteo France shouldn’t delay the ceremony and many of its planned surprises, Paris organizers had been crossing their fingers for clear skies to assist with their vision of showcasing the city and its iconic monuments.

Wet weather could make the ceremony a more fatiguing experience for the thousands of Olympians parading on boats on the Seine River and the hundreds of thousands of spectators on its banks and bridges — many more than could have been squeezed into France’s national stadium.

Paris organizers said they expect 6,800 of the 10,500 athletes will attend before they embark on the next 16 days of competition.

“Of course when you organize an outdoor spectacle, you prefer good weather,” the Paris Games’ chief organizer, Tony Estanguet, said on France Inter radio.

But the ceremony “was thought out so it can be held in the rain,” he said.

“It will perhaps be a bit different,” he added. “We’ll adapt.”

Some spectators who followed organizers’ advice to arrive well ahead of time along the ceremony route fumed over long waits to get to their seats.

“Paris has been great, anything to do with the Olympics and dissemination of information has been horrible,” said Tony Gawne, a 54-year-old Texan who turned up six hours in advance with his wife.

“When you spend $6,000 on two tickets, well, that’s a little frustrating.”

But Paris has plenty of aces up its sleeve. The Eiffel Tower, its head still visible below the clouds, Notre Dame Cathedral — restored from the ashes of its 2019 fire — the Louvre Museum and other iconic monuments will star in the opening ceremony. Award-winning theater director Thomas Jolly, the show’s creative mind, has used the signature Paris cityscape of zinc-grey rooftops as the playground for his imagination.

His task: Tell the story of France, its people, their history and essence in a way that leaves an indelible imprint on Olympic audiences. Refresh the image and self-confidence of the French capital that was repeatedly struck by deadly extremist attacks in 2015. Capture how Paris is also aiming to reboot the Olympics, with Summer Games it has worked to make more appealing and sustainable.

It’s a big ask. So Paris is going big, very big. That goes for the security, too. Large fenced-off stretches of central Paris are locked down to those without passes and the skies during the ceremony will be a no-fly zone for 150 kilometers (93 miles) around.

Many details of the spectacle that will stretch through sunset and into the Paris night remain closely guarded secrets to preserve the wow factor. Lady Gaga was seen before the show, doing some warmup singing. She raised a hand and waved. French media also mentioned Céline Dion and stars from France as possibles among the thousands of performers.

Jolly was also recently filmed watching French air force jets practicing how to draw a heart in the Paris skies with trails of colored smoke.

Soccer icon Zinedine Zidane, who led France to World Cup ecstasy in 1998, is among the guesses for who might light the Olympic cauldron. Another suggestion is that organizers might bestow that honor on survivors of the 2015 attacks by Islamic State-group gunmen and suicide bombers who killed 130 people in and around Paris.

The identity of the final torch bearers has been the country’s biggest secret. Estanguet said Friday morning that only he knows “the personality or athlete” and that he still hadn’t told that person.

“I plan to tell the last carrier today,” he said. “He or she doesn’t know.”

The ceremony’s broad-brush strokes have been previously announced and are stunning in their ambition. French President Emmanuel Macron said they initially felt like “a crazy and not very serious idea.”

The athletes will parade on boats on an east-west route along a 6-kilometer (nearly 4-mile) stretch of the Seine. Watching will be 320,000 paying and invited ticket holders, plus many others from balconies and windows.

During the athletes’ waterborne adventure, Paris’ splendors will unfurl before them. They’ll pass historic landmarks that have been temporarily transformed into arenas for Olympic sports.

Concorde Plaza, where French revolutionaries guillotined King Louis XVI and other royals, now hosting skateboarding and other sports, and the Grand Palais of iron, stone and glass, the fencing and taekwondo venue.

The golden-domed resting place of Napoléon Bonaparte, the backdrop for Olympic archery, and the Eiffel Tower, which donated chunks of iron that have been inlaid in the gold, silver and bronze Olympic medals. They’ll be won in the 32 sports’ 329 medal events.

Up to 45,000 police and gendarmes, plus 10,000 soldiers, will safeguard the ceremony and its VIP guests, with IOC President Thomas Bach and Macron presiding.

Paris’ aim, said Estanguet, is “to show to the whole world and to all of the French that in this country, we’re capable of exceptional things.”

AP journalists Megan Janetsky and Jerome Pugmire contributed to this report.