‘Games wide open’ is the motto for this year’s Paris Olympics, which officially begin on Friday with the opening ceremony.
It is the first time in 100 years the French capital has hosted the summer Games, with the majority of the events taking place in or around the city’s most iconic areas.
Friday’s opening ceremony will feature boats carrying athletes and dignitaries down six kilometres of the River Seine, with room for 300,000 spectators.
Few details are known about the event – though there has been speculation about Celine Dion and Lady Gaga performing – with the ceremony’s artistic director Thomas Jolly saying he wants to “show France in all its diversity”.
The Paris Games is the first to achieve gender parity among athletes, with 5,250 male and 5,250 female athletes set to compete.
With millions expected to attend, Paris is making the final touches for a Games it hopes will be like no other.
The cost of this year’s Games is expected to be about 9bn euros (£7.6bn), with the organising committee promising to make it the greenest Olympics in history.
The opening ceremony begins at 19:30 CET (18:30 BST) on Friday, 26 July.
It will be shown live on BBC One (from 17:45 BST), BBC iPlayer and the BBC Sport website and app.
There will be radio coverage on BBC Radio 5 Live and BBC Sounds from 19:00 BST, as well as live text coverage on the BBC Sport website and app.
Rower Helen Glover and diver Tom Daley will be flagbearers for Team GB. Other notable choices include tennis player Coco Gauff and basketball legend LeBron James for the United States and boxer Cindy Ngamba and taekwondo athlete Yahya Al-Ghotany for the refugee team.
Although Friday is the official opening of the Games, some sports have already begun, such as men’s rugby sevens and both men and women’s football.
