The Paris 2024 Olympic Games is due to begin in the French capital on Friday night, as the opening ceremony officially welcomes the world to western Europe for a fortnight of ‘excellence, friendship, and respect.’
As with every edition of the modern summer Olympics since 1896, the opening ceremony has featured each of the athletes being introduced to a crowd – although, as time has progressed, the scale and grandeur of the initial event has increased.
Not to be outdone, France has planned something unique for its third summer Olympics and first since 1924. For the first time ever, the opening ceremony will not take place inside the designated Olympic stadium.
Instead, 7,500 athletes will sail along a four-mile (6km) stretch of the River Seine on 85 boats, passing iconic landmarks such as Cathédrale Notre-Dame de Paris and Le Louvre – with the Eiffel Tower looming over the city in the background. Around 300,000 people are expected to turn out as rain is predicted to fall over northern France.
While it is unknown how many of the 120 golfers competing in the men’s and women’s golf events at Le Golf National will join the history-making nautical convoy, it has been confirmed that three of them will be flag bearer’s for their respective countries.
𝐓𝐞𝐚𝐦 𝐈𝐫𝐞𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐅𝐥𝐚𝐠𝐛𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐫𝐬 | Paris 2024 “It’s the greatest honour, I’ve ever been given.” 🥹💚Sarah Lavin and Shane Lowry are our Team Ireland Flagbearers for the Paris 2024 Opening Ceremony ✨#TeamIreland | #Paris2024 pic.twitter.com/nisrUyyjRjJuly 26, 2024
The most high-profile of which is Ireland’s Shane Lowry. The 2019 Open Champion represented his country at the 2020 Olympics – finishing T22, eight strokes behind gold medallist Xander Schauffele – and admitted he was delighted to be asked to carry the flag on Friday night.
Speaking in a video shared by Team Ireland’s Olympic social media channels, Lowry said: “It’s a huge honour for me and my family. Anybody who knows me knows how much I love Ireland and how much I love playing for my country.
“I always wear the Irish flag with pride and to get to do something like this is something I’ll remember forever.”
Meanwhile, Fabrizio Zanotti – who is the World No.342 and regularly plays on the DP World Tour – will…
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