Florent Manaudou & Tom Daley Among Flagbearers At Opening Ceremony Of Paris 2024
Florent Manaudou and Tom Daley were among the flagbearers for France and Great Britain at the Opening Ceremony of Paris 2024.
Manaudou won 50 free gold on his Olympic debut at London 2012, taking silver in the two subsequent Games at Rio 2016 and Tokyo three years ago.
The 33-year-old was joined by Mélina Robert-Michon, who won discus silver in Rio, as the volume rose to a crescendo as the France team travelled down the River Seine.
Manaudou said:
“I feel good. For now, it is very hard to prepare because it is the Olympic Games in the house. It is an unprecedented Opening Ceremony. I think that we should not prepare. We must take as much energy as possible from all the athletes who will be there on the barge. It is a plunge into the unknown and we can’t wait to discover it.
“We are the flagbearers but I think that all that represents the country are all the athletes who will participate in the Games.
“I think that the star of this ceremony will be the French flag. In any case for us French. We are just the flagbearers. It is an important symbol for us but this whole delegation is very important.”
Daley – the first Great Britain diver to compete in five Olympics – was joined by Helen Glover, who won rowing gold at London 2012 and four years later in Rio.
The 30-year-old – who is competing in the 10m platform synchro – recreated the ‘Titanic’ scene with Glover.
Near, far, wherever you are… 😉#OpeningCeremony pic.twitter.com/xFbbCCk1y1
— Team GB (@TeamGB) July 26, 2024
He said:
“It’s such a huge honour to be flagbearer. In my first Olympics in 2008, I remember coming into the Opening Ceremony behind the flagbearer and thinking about how cool it would be to one day be able to do that.
“You think about the amount of people that get the opportunity to do this – it’s very few people – so it’s a great way to start my fifth Games.”
