Who lit the Olympic flame at Paris 2024? Meet French heroes Teddy Riner and Marie-Jose Perec

THE Paris Olympics is officially underway after a stunning opening ceremony on the River Seine.

For the first time ever, the ceremony took place outside of a stadium.

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It has been estimated that was over 600,000 people in attendance to watch the highly-anticipated spectacle.

And instead of everyone flocking to a stadium, attendees got to watch the opening ceremony happen on the Seine River in Paris.

Organisers revealed that it took place when dusk was due to fall at the time of the event so that spectators could watch it during the day and night.

Who lit the Olympic flame in Paris?

The Olympic flame has been lit by two French superstars – judoka Teddy Riner and sprint legend Marie-Jose Perec.

Both stars have three Olympic gold medals to their names.

Perec, 56, sealed 400m gold in Barcelona 1992 and the 400m/ 200m double in Atlanta in 1996.

While Riner, 35, won +100kg judo gold in the 2012 and 2016 Games – plus mixed team gold in Tokyo five years later.

The pair lit a cauldron which sparked a 30m hot air balloon to descend into the Parisian sky to signify the Games had begun.

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Who were the flagbearers at the Opening Ceremony?

• Algeria: Yasser Triki (Athletics)/ Amina Belhadi (Judo)
• Australia: Eddie Ockenden (Hockey)/ Jessica Fox (Canoe Slalom)
• Austria: Felix Oschmautz (Canoe Slalom)/ Michaela Polleres (Judo)
• Bahamas: Steven Gardiner (Athletics)/ Devynne Charlton (Athletics)
• Belgium: Jerome Guery (Equestrian)/ Emma Meesseman (Basketball)
• Brazil: Isaquias Queiroz (Canoeing)/ Raquel Kochhann (Rugby sevens)
• Canada: Andre De Grasse (Athletics)/ Maude Charron (Weightlifting)
• Chile: Nicolas Jarry (Tennis)/ Antonia Abraham (Rowing)
• Colombia: Kevin Quintero (Cycling)/ Flor Ruiz (Athletics)
• Cuba: Mijaín Lopez (Wrestling)/ Idalys Ortiz (Judo)
• Denmark: Niklas Landin Jacobsen (Handball)/ Anne-Marie Rindom (Sailing)
• Egypt: Ahmed El-Gendy (Modern pentathlon)/ Sara Ahmed (Weightlifting)
• Finland: Eetu Kallioinen (Shooting)/ Sinem Kurtbay (Sailing)
• France: Florent Manaudou (Swimming)/ Melina Robert-Michon (Athletics)
• Germany: Dennis Schroder (Basketball)/ Anna-Maria Wagner (Judo)
• Great Britain: Tom Daley (Diving)/ Helen Glover (Rowing)
• Greece: Giannis Antetokounmpo (Basketball)/ Antigoni Drisbioti (Athletics)
• India: Sharath Kamal (Table tennis)/ P. V. Sindhu (Badminton)
• Indonesia: -/ Maryam March Maharani (Judo)
• Ireland: Shane Lowry (Golf)/ Sarah Lavin (Athletics)
• Italy: Gianmarco Tamberi (Athletics)/ Arianna Errigo (Fencing)
• Jamaica: Josh Kirlew (Swimming)/ Shanieka Ricketts (Athletics)
• Japan: Shigeyuki Nakarai (Breaking)/ Misaki Emura (Fencing)
• Kenya: Ferdinand Omanyala (Athletics)/ Trizah Atuka (Volleyball)
• Malaysia: Bertrand Rhodict Lises (Diving)/ Nur Shazrin Mohd Latif (Sailing)
• Mexico: Emiliano Hernández (Modern pentathlon)/ Alejandra Orozco (Diving)
• Morocco: Yessin Rahmouni (Equestrian)/ Ines Laklalech (Golf)
• Netherlands: Worthy de Jong (3×3 Basketball)/ Lois Abbingh (Handball)
• New Zealand: Aaron Gate (Cycling)/ Jo Aleh (Sailing)
• Nigeria: -/ Tobi Amusan (Athletics)
• Norway: Christian Sorum (Volleyball)/ Katrine Lunde (Handball)
• Pakistan: Arshad Nadeem (Athletics)/ Jehanara Nabi (Swimming)
• People’s Republic of China: Ma Long (Table tennis)/ Feng Yu (Synchronised swimming)
• Philippines: Carlo Paalam (Boxing)/ Nesthy Petecio (Boxing)
• Poland: Przemyslaw Zamojski (3×3 Basketball)/ Anita Wlodarczyk (Athletics)
• Portugal: Fernando Pimenta (Canoeing)/ Ana Cabecinha (Athletics)
• Refugee Olympic Team: Yahya Al Ghotany (Taekwondo)/ Cindy Ngamba (Boxing)
• Republic of Korea: Woo Sang-hyeok (Athletics)/ Kim Seo-yeong (Swimming)
• Romania: Marius Cozmiuc (Rowing)/ Ionela Cozmiuc (Rowing)
• Singapore: Ryan Lo (Sailing)/ Shanti Pereira (Athletics)
• South Africa: Akani Simbine (Athletics)/ Caitlin Rooskrantz (Gymnastics)
• Spain: Marcus Cooper Walz (Canoeing)/ Tamara Echegoyen (Sailing)
• Sri Lanka: Viren Nettasinghe (Badminton)/ Dilhani Lekamge (Athletics)
• Sweden: Peder Fredricson (Equestrian)/ Josefin Olsson (Sailing)
• Switzerland: Nino Schurter (Cycling Mountain Bike)/ Nina Christen (Shooting)
• Thailand: Puripol Boonson (Athletics)/ Vareeraya Sukasem (Skateboarding)
• United States: LeBron James (Basketball)/ Coco Gauff (Tennis)

When is the Olympics on for?

The 33rd Summer Olympic Games gets underway from Friday, July 26, 2024 which is the official date for the opening ceremony.

There are, however, events such as football, which start on July 24, while archery gets underway on July 25.

And the huge event in France will conclude on Sunday, August 11, 2024.

This will be the third time Paris is hosting the Summer Games with the most recent edition coming exactly 100 years before – 1924.

There is set to be four main zones that will host several events for the duration of the competition.

What TV channel is it on and can it be live streamed?

Paris Olympic 2024 will be broadcast LIVE across Eurosport and the BBC in the UK.

You can live stream all of the action from the discovery+ app, which is available for download onto your mobile or tablet device.

The BBC iPlayer and BBC Red Button will also stream some of the action alongside their coverage on BBC One and Two.