The 2024 Paris Olympics will kick off with over 10,000 athletes sailing down the Seine as a spectacle for the opening ceremony at 7:30 p.m. Paris time this Friday. Taiwanese athletes will be on the 74th delegation boat to set off, sailing alongside delegations from Tajikistan, Tanzania, and Chad.
Taiwan’s Chinese Taipei delegation will be made up of 39 representatives, including athletes, coaches, and staff members. Athletes such as badminton ace Tai Tzu-ying (戴資穎), b-boy Sun Chen (孫振), tennis star Hsieh Su-wei (謝淑薇), table tennis champion Chuang Chih-yuan (莊智淵), and swimmer Wang Kuan-hung (王冠閎) will all be on board. Tai and Chen will serve as flag bearers for the approximately 3.7-mile (6 kilometer) voyage.
The event marks the first time in the history of the Olympic Summer Games that the opening ceremony will be held outdoors. Over 600,000 spectators are expected to attend and 1.5 billion viewers are anticipated to watch the broadcasts.