Paris was on Thursday counting down the hours to the most ambitious Olympics opening ceremony in history on the river Seine, as tennis icon Rafael Nadal was fighting an injury battle which could shatter his gold medal dreams.
The show on Friday evening will see up to 7,500 competitors sail down a six-kilometre stretch of the Seine on 85 boats, accompanied by a performance blending French culture and Olympic values that organisers promise will be spectacular.
Compared to the Covid-blighted Tokyo Olympics, where the Games were delayed by a year and opened in an empty stadium, the Paris ceremony will take place in front of 300,000 spectators and an audience of VIPs and celebrities from around the world.
The line-up of performers is a closely guarded secret but US pop star Lady Gaga and French-Malian singer Aya Nakamura — the most listened-to French-speaking singer in the world — are rumoured to be among them.
The ceremony will take place amid an unprecedented security operation.
Central Paris has been turned into a fortress, with metal barriers along both banks of the Seine. Only residents and people with hotel bookings can enter the high-security area.
Police snipers are set to be positioned on every high point along the route, with an assassination attempt on US presidential candidate Donald Trump on July 13 helping focus minds.
Israel and the Palestinian team will be given extra security with the tensions from the Israeli offensive in Gaza feared to be a potential motive for would-be attackers.
Scandal-hit Canadians
Nadal, a two-time gold medallist whose career has been plagued by a series of injuries, suffered a thigh injury in training at Roland Garros.
“I can’t guarantee anything, that he won’t play or he will play,” said Nadal’s coach Carlos Moya.
“At the moment he needs to rest, undergo treatment.”
Earlier Thursday, 2008 singles gold medallist Nadal was drawn for a potential second round clash against 24-time Grand Slam champion Novak Djokovic.
He is also due to play doubles with Carlos Alcaraz.
In another blow to the event following the withdrawal of world number one Jannik Sinner, two-time Olympic champion Andy Murray pulled out from the singles.
Women’s football took centre stage Thursday after a chaotic start to the sporting action in the men’s football 24 hours earlier.
The Spanish women’s team, the reigning world champions who are making their first-ever Olympics appearance, beat Japan 2-1 thanks to goals from 2023 world player of the year Aitana Bonmati and Mariona Caldentey.
The United States, the four-time gold medallists, defeated Zambia 3-0 in their opener.
Scandal-hit reigning champions Canada overcame New Zealand 2-1 without their coach Bev Priestman on the sidelines after she decided it would be inappropriate following incidents of Canadian staff spying on their opponents’ training sessions with drones.
“We are not cheats,” said Canada defender Vanessa Gilles. “As Canadians, these are not our values or those of our country.”
Canada’s assistant coach and an analyst were dismissed from the Olympics for their part in the affair.
It all added up to a difficult start for the football at the Games after a chaotic end to Argentina men’s match against Morocco when the football kicked off on Wednesday.
Morocco beat the two-time Olympic champions 2-1 in Saint-Etienne, but only after a late equaliser for the South American side was disallowed and the final minutes took place in an empty stadium following crowd trouble.
US gymnastics superstar Simone Biles, set to once again be one of the faces of the Olympics, got her first taste of the Bercy Arena as she trained ahead of the start of competition at the weekend.
Biles is strongly tipped to add to her haul of four Olympic golds at the Paris Games after a tumultuous campaign in Tokyo three years ago, when she pulled out of most of her events as she battled the disorientating condition that gymnasts call “twisties”.
Antoine Dupont inspired France to a thrilling 26-14 Olympic sevens quarter-final win over Argentina as New Zealand suffered a shock loss to South Africa.
Double gold medallists Fiji survived a huge scare from Ireland, narrowly retaining their unvanquished Olympic record with a dramatic come-from-behind 19-15 win.
In the other quarter-final, Australia defeated the USA 18-0.