News Desk

The Advocate Post: The Paris Olympic Games will officially begin on Friday, opening with the motto of ‘Games wide open’.

Paris is hosting the summer Games the first time in 100 years, with events mostly taking place in or around the French Capital’s most iconic areas. In the opening ceremony on Friday, boats carrying athletes and dignitaries will travel six kilometers down the River seine, with room for almost 300,000 spectators.

The ceremony’s artistic director Thomas Jolly says he wants to show France in all its diversity, and although not much is known about the event, there have been speculations that Celine Dion and Lady Gaga will perform. The Paris Games has also become the first to achieve complete gender equality in numbers, with 5,250 male and 5,250 female athletes participating in the games.

Paris is making the final touches as millions are expected to attend, as they hope it will be like no other. French President Emmanuel Macron said earlier this week that the country was ready and will continue to be throughout the Games.

However, Parisians have expressed concerns via social media, about issues such as overcrowding, price inflation and difficulty traversing through the city.