French judoka Teddy Riner and sprinter Marie-José Pérec, a three-time Olympic gold medallist, lit the Olympic flame after French President Emmanuel Macron declared the Games open and the Olympic oath was taken by the duo.
The flame will burn in its cauldron for the next two weeks as the Paris Games play out.
During the closing ceremony, it will be extinguished in Paris and then readied for the next Games.
The torch was passed between legendary athletes Zinedine Zidane, Rafael Nadal (who carried the torch on a boat down the Seine), Serena Williams (who rode next to Nadal), Carl Lewis, Tony Parker and scores of French Olympians.
Finally, the cauldron was lit by French Olympians Teddy Riner and Marie-José Pérec.
Celine Dion wrapped up the Paris Olympics Opening Ceremony with a performance from the first level of the Eiffel Tower
It’s her first performance since her diagnosis with stiff person syndrome, a rare neurological condition that causes spasms, muscle rigidity and a heightened sensitivity to stimuli, such as sound and lights.
Wearing a white gown covered in pearls and beads, the emotion of the moment was palpable as Dion performed Edith Piaf’s “L’Hymne À L’Amour,” one of the French singer’s most well-known songs.
Piaf released the song in 1950 for her partner, Marcel Cerdan, after he was killed in a plane crash the year before.
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