 "Paris Olympics: French gold medalists Teddy Riner and Marie-Jose Perec light the Olympic cauldron")
French Olympic gold medalists Teddy Riner and Marie-Jose Perec teamed up to light the Olympic cauldron for Paris 2024 to end an elaborate but rain-soaked opening ceremony on Friday (July 26) night.
Paris Olympics: News, schedule, medals tally and more
The duo tilted their torches toward the cauldron, which quickly became alight in flames. Celine Dion followed in on the action with a rendition of Edith Piaf’s “Hymne à l’amour” (“Hymn to Love”).
Riner is a three-time gold medallist in judo and Perec won three in athletics, becoming the first sprinter to win consecutive golds in the 400m sprint.
The Paris 2024 Olympic cauldron is lit!
— The Olympic Games (@Olympics) July 26, 2024
Sorry, THE PARIS 2024 HOT-AIR BALLOON OLYMPIC CAULDRON IS LIT! 🤯 🔥 #Paris2024 #OpeningCeremony pic.twitter.com/CIuS4RzfHD
The lighting of the cauldron capped an extravagant four-hour ceremony that concluded with a relay of the flame that featured Zinedine Zidane, Rafael Nadal, Nadia Comaneci, Serena Williams and Carl Lewis.
Impact Shorts
More ShortsThe identity of who would light the cauldron was a closely kept secret until Riner and Perec learned hours before the ceremony that they had been chosen.
Their identities were revealed to the world only when Charles Coste, the oldest living French Olympic champion at 100 years old, lit both their torches.
🚨🇫🇷 RINER AND PÉREC LIGHT CAULDRON IN SPECTACULAR PARIS SKY DISPLAY
— Mario Nawfal (@MarioNawfal) July 26, 2024
Teddy Riner and Marie-José Pérec light the cauldron in the Jardin des Tuileries after receiving the torch from a group of 18 torchbearers, including various Olympians and Paralympians.
The cauldron, featuring… pic.twitter.com/y6gpiFqCX1
Tony Estanguet, the Paris Games chief organiser, said only he knew the identity of “the personality or athlete” he had chosen and he deliberately withheld the information so the secret would not be leaked.
“I really waited until today. I plan to tell the last carrier today, to try to maintain this confidentiality,” Estanguet had said earlier on Friday.
Recent cauldron lighters have ranged from current stars, retired greats and even political figures, and some Games have featured groups of people sharing the honour together.
Who have lit the Olympic cauldron in history?
1936 Berlin – Fritz Schilgen (track and field)
1948 London – John Mark (track and field)
1952 Oslo – Eigil Nansen (non-athlete)
1952 Helsinki – Paavo Nurmi and Hannes Kolehmainen (track and field)
1956 Cortina d’Ampezzo – Guido Caroli (speed skating)
1956 Melbourne – Ron Clarke (track and field) and Hans Wikne (equestrian)
1960 Squaw Valley – Ken Henry (speed skating)
1960 Rome – Giancarlo Peris (track and field)
1964 Innsbruck – Josef Rieder (alpine skiing)
1964 Tokyo – Yoshinori Sakai (track and field)
1968 Grenoble – Alain Calmat (figure skating)
1968 Mexico City – Enriqueta Basilio (track and field)
1972 Sapporo – Hideki Takada (non-athlete)
1972 Munich – Gunther Zahn (track and field)
1976 Innsbruck – Christl Haas (alpine skiing) and Josef Feistmantl (luge)
1976 Montreal – Sandra Henderson (gymnastics) and Stephane Prefontaine (track and field)
1980 Lake Placid – Charles Kerr (non-athlete)
1980 Moscow – Sergei Belov (basketball)
1984 Sarajevo – Sanda Dubravcic (figure skating)
1984 Los Angeles – Rafer Johnson (track and field)
1988 Calgary – Robyn Perry (figure skating)
1988 Seoul – Kim Won-Tak (track and field), Chung Sun-Man and Sohn Mi-Chung (non-athlete)
1992 Albertville – Michel Platini (football) and Francois-Cyrille Grange (alpine skiing)
1992 Barcelona – Antonio Rebollo (archery)
1994 Lillehammer – Haakon, Crown Prince of Norway (non-athlete)
1996 Atlanta – Muhammad Ali (boxing)
1998 Nagano – Midori Ito (figure skating)
2000 Sydney – Cathy Freeman (track and field)
2002 Salt Lake City – 1980 U.S. Olympic ice hockey team
2004 Athens – Nikolaos Kaklamanakis (sailing)
2006 Turin – Stefania Belmondo (cross-country skiing)
2008 Beijing – Li Ning (artistic gymnastics)
2010 Vancouver – Steve Nash (basketball), Nancy Greene Raine (alpine skiing), Wayne Gretzky (ice hockey), Catriona Le May Doan* (speed skating)
2012 London – Desiree Henry (track and field), Katie Kirk (track and field), Aidan Reynolds (track and field), Adelle Tracey (track and field), Callum Airlie (sailing), Jordan Duckitt (non-athlete), Cameron MacRitchie (rowing)
2014 Sochi – Irina Rodnina (figure skating) and Vladislav Tretiak (ice hockey)
2016 Rio de Janeiro – Vanderlei Cordeiro de Lima (athletics) and Jorge Gomes (athletics)
2018 Pyeongchang – Yuna Kim (figure skating)
2020 Tokyo – Naomi Osaka (tennis) and Ayaka Takahashi (badminton)
2022 Beijing – Dinigeer Yilamujiang (cross-country skiing) and Zhao Jiawen (nordic combined)
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