免费

Olympic ceremony on the Seine was a daring feat. Paris stuck the landing

PARIS—France’s audacious plan to open the Paris Olympic Games on the Seine raised plenty of eyebrows before Friday night’s ceremony.Detractors worried about security, about crowd management, about the logistics of moving 85 boats carrying 6,800 athletes down the Seine. Coordinated arson attacks on France’s high-speed rail network Thursday night further raised anxieties about unwelcome disruptions.But in the end, Paris transformed itself into a spectacular stage – and demonstrated that bold thinking could bring a certain shine back to a global sporting event that has seen its popularity slump in recent years.A century after the 1924 Paris Olympics, the opening ceremonyFriday represented a return to the host’s seat for France. And after two pandemic Olympics, muted and virtually spectator-less, they marked a triumphant revival of the spectacle of the Games: colorful, convivial, flashy and weird – a dynamic blend of ardent patriotism and glitzy internationalism.No site more iconic and spe…