Athletes of India aboard a boat in the floating parade on the river Seine during the opening ceremony.
Credit: X/@Olympics
Two-time Olympic medallist PV Sindhu and table tennis legend A Sharath Kamal led the Indian contingent at the glittering ceremony of Paris Olympics 2024 on Friday.
The Indian contingent was 84th on the call sheet. The women in the contingent were draped in sarees, while the men sported the traditional 'kurta-payjama' in the colours of the national flag.
Sindhu, who was making her third appearance at the Games, said she is super proud to be at Olympic village
"This will be my third Olympics, and really excited for the competition to begin. At the same time, I will be the flag bearer for the Indian contingent and I am super proud... I will be holding the bigger flag at the opening ceremony and I hope, with the same excitement, I do well in the competition and get a medal back to India," Sindhu told JioCinema head of the ceremony.
Kamal, who is set to participate in his fifth Olympics, said, "It's been a moment that I've been dreaming and visualising about, for the last 3-4 months. I'm pretty excited that I'm going to live that moment and especially that I'm going to do that with PV Sindhu. So, it's a fantastic moment, I would say.”
A total of 78 Indian athletes and officials participated in the ceremony.
The boats passed through the iconic landmarks of the city such as the restored Cathedral of Notre Dame, which was gutted in a fire five years ago, the iconic Louvre Museum and also a few of the Games venues.
This was the first time in the history of the Olympics that the opening ceremony was not conducted inside a stadium, as the traditional event was staged along the river Seine, which flows through the heart of the historic French capital.