Paris 2024 Olympics: final countdown to opening ceremony and more – live
Key events
“France’s live-action experiment in the great man theory of history will roll through to the semi-finals on Saturday, where they will play South Africa.”
Andy Bull witnessed Antoine Dupont’s triumph as he led the home side to the rugby sevens semi-finals at the Stade de France last night:
Preamble
Hello and welcome to the Friday 2024 Olympic Games live blog.
It’s time for the launch in Paris, Angelique Chrisafis reports from the French capital:
“It is billed as the largest open-air show on Earth – a spectacle so ambitious that it will shut down a city centre and its airspace, mobilise 45,000 police officers and several military units, and have been rehearsing in secret for two years.
When the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games in Paris begins on Friday evening, it will be the first time that the starting shot for the world’s largest sporting event will be theatrically fired outside a stadium.”