Celine Dion, Lady Gaga arrive in Paris, raising performance questions

PARIS — Paris’ most iconic sites are only takes a few minutes away for the Leclercq family who live on a house boat on the Seine river. Now they’re being asked to move further downstream for the opening ceremony this weekend, but with perks.

“It’s going to be one of a kind,” Holly Hasegawa Leclercq said of the ceremony, sitting along the river next to the Eiffel Tower. “They’re giving us five tickets,” said Leclercq, 53, who’s originally from Seattle and lives on the boat with her three teenage children and husband.

“The Olympic Committee asked us very nicely if they could use our spot for the opening ceremonies,” she said. “Of course we said yes,” she added. As Leclercq gave NBC News a tour of her spacious boat, with decked-out bedrooms for all of her children, she said her kitchen was set up in such a way, “so that I can cook right here and just look out on the water.”

Although they’re moving high up on the river and the tickets are much appreciated, Leclercq said, “maybe we’ll try to sneak down a little bit closer.”

PARIS — The man responsible for the Eiffel Tower will have the best seat in the house for the Opening Ceremony. From the second floor of the world-famous landmark you can see right along the Seine to Notre Dame Cathedral close to where the fleet of boats will begin. Right underneath the tower is the Trocadero where the ceremony will climax.

Jean Francois Martins, President of the Eiffel Tower, was part of the original bid for Paris 2024 and now gets to see his dream come true.

‘The Olympic bid for Paris had a signature theme called, ‘made for sharing.’ So now it’s time to share it with all the world,” Francois Martins told NBC News today.

“With all the viewers the broadcast all over the world. Saying okay, sports can provide in our challenging society some peace and unity, so let’s celebrate.’

For France, he says it will be a celebration of, “Our history, our country, our values.”

Standing on the balcony of the Eiffel Tower he points out the Opening Ceremony route, “You have to imagine boats with all the national delegations of all the athletes all around the world, cruising there,” he says followed by that, “magical sentence, we declare the Olympics open.”

Multiple U.S. athletes will arrive in Paris with a chance to make history during the 2024 Olympics. In gymnastics, Simone Biles could become just the third woman in history to win gold in the women’s individual all-around. Biles won five medals at the 2023 World Championships, including four golds. If she wins at least one medal in Paris, Biles will break her tie with Shannon Miller for the most Olympic medals of any American gymnast in history.

In swimming, Katie Ledecky needs one gold medal to tie and two gold medals to break the record for most Olympic golds won by an American woman in any sport. Ledecky who currently has 10 medals, needs just three total medals to become the most decorated American woman in Olympic history.

NBA star Kevin Durant arrives in Paris with an opportunity to become the first male athlete to win four gold medals in a team sport. Meanwhile the U.S. women’s basketball team is looking to become the first team in any sport to win eight straight Olympic golds.

In track and field, multiple athletes are eyeing history. Track star Noah Lyles is looking to become the first American man to win gold in both the 100m and 200m at the same Games since Carl Lewis in 1984. Lyles is also hoping to become the fastest man on earth, a record currently held by retired Jamaica’s Usain Bolt.

In the women’s track and field events, Sha’Carri Richardson could become the first American woman to win Olympic gold in the 100m since Gail Devers in 1996. Her counterpart, Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone, is the defending gold medalist in the women’s 400m hurdles and is looking to become the first woman in history to win multiple gold medals in that event.

Over in field events, two-time defending gold medalist Ryan Crouser could become the first athlete, male or female, to win three Olympic gold medals in the shot put.

Nearly 600 athletes will represent the United States during the 2024 Paris Games. According to the U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Committee, the 592 American athletes is the largest delegation competing in Paris. 340 American athletes are making their Olympic debut, while the remaining 252 athletes are returning to the global sports stage.

Three U.S. athletes including Diana Taurasi (basketball), Steffen Peters (equestrian) and McLain Ward (equestrian) are making their sixth Olympic appearance.

In terms of medals, the U.S. currently has 122 Olympic medalists. Swimmer Katie Ladecky has the most with 10 medals, followed by gymnast Simone Biles (seven), swimmer Caeleb Dressel (seven), and swimmer Ryan Murphy (six). Three athletes currently have five medals including Diana Taurasi and swimmers Lilly King and Simone Manuel.

46 states will be represented lead by California (120), Florida (42) and Texas (41).

Finally, 43 years marks the age gap between the youngest U.S. athlete, 16-year-old gymnast Hezly Rivera and 59 year old equestrian Steffen Peters.

Olympic athletes may already be experts at their sports, but they have one more skill to master in Paris: French baguette making.

Aleah Finnegan, a former U.S. gymnast who now represents the Philippines, documented her experience learning to make baguettes in the Olympic Village on TikTok.

A professional chef from Sodexo Live!, the company that provides the food inside the Olympic Village, led a group of athletes from an array of countries in a step-by-step tutorial.

“Excellent form, Emma,” Finnegan joked as her teammate, Emma Malabuyo, placed freshly rolled dough in the oven.

They learned how to prepare and cut the dough, design their baguette, bake it properly and, of course, taste test it.

“Délicieuse,” Finnegan proclaimed.

Several sporting events will make their debut during the 2024 Paris Games. Among them is breaking, commonly known as breakdancing. Breaking will showcase 16 athletes for the men’s and women’s competitions in head-to-head matchups. Breakers will compete in a round robin before advancing to a knockout stage. Judges will score breakers on five categories — technique, vocabulary, execution, musicality and originality. Breaking will debut on Aug. 9 at La Concorde, a historic square at the end of the Champs-Elysees.

Outside of breaking, multiple sports have added new events for the Paris Games. Women’s boxing will now include a new division for bantamweight at 119 pounds.

Meanwhile, sailing has added men’s kite, women’s kite and dinghy. In kiting, athletes race on boards that fly above the water. Mixed dinghy features teams of one male athlete and one female athlete racing together in one boat. Notably, all sailing races will take place at Marseille Marina, approximately 400 miles southeast of Paris.

Additional events include men’s and women’s kayak cross in canoe shalom, K-2 500m and C-2 500m in canoe sprint as well as mixed team skeet in shooting events, where one man and one woman from each nation will partner.

While most Olympic athletes are in their 20s, a few notable exceptions exist.

Steffen Peters, who is 59 years old, is the oldest American Olympian at the Paris Games. Peters, from San Diego, is competing in equestrian. 

At the Games, he’ll be riding a horse named Suppenkasper (nicknamed “Mopsie”). Mopsie is three months older than gymnast Hezly Rivera, who is the youngest American Olympian. She turned 16 just last month. 

Charlotte Dujardin, a British dressage rider, could have become Britain’s most decorated female Olympian in Paris. 

But that dream has been put on hold. The 39-year-old athlete announced Tuesday she’s pulling out of the competition following the emergence of a video “from four years ago” that showed her “making an error of judgement during a coaching session.”

It wasn’t clear what video she was referring to or what was shown in the video. With six Olympic medals, three of them gold, Dujardin holds the joint record as most decorated female Olympian for Team Great Britain.

“I have made the decision to withdraw from all competition — including the Paris Olympics” she said in a statement on Instagram, noting an investigation is underway by the International Federation for Equestrian Sports.

“What happened was completely out of character and does not reflect how I train my horses or coach my pupils,” Dujardin said. “However there is no excuse. I am deeply ashamed and should have set a better example in that moment.”

“I am sincerely sorry for my actions and devastated that I have let everyone down, including Team GB, fans and sponsors.”

Israeli athletes will receive 24-hour protection during the Paris Olympics, French officials have said, after a left-wing lawmaker said the Israeli delegation was not welcome in the French capital.

Speaking at a rally on Saturday, Thomas Portes, an MP with the far-left party France Unbowed, called for protests over the participation of the Israeli team in the Games amid the country’s continuing offensive in Gaza.

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Olympians can rest easy.

Where athletes sleep has been a controversial subject in the run-up to the Paris Games, with the use of cardboard bed frames aimed at promoting sustainability sparking claims on social media that organizers were trying to prevent any participants from coupling up.

“When I tested them last time, it withstood my testing,” says Irish gymnast Rhys McClenaghan in an X post in which he jumps up and down and does an athletic forward-roll on one of the “anti-sex beds” without it collapsing. “Nope, they pass the test,” he concludes. “It’s fake. Fake news.”

The Olympic organizers have posted a video on YouTube explaining the use of the beds, last used in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, which are made from recycled materials. Athletes have a choice of mattress firmness.