Paris Olympics not just sport: Presenting a new French identity to the world

Not everything has worked but few other nations would have had the temerity to stage an opening in such fashion

A torchbearer runs past Pont Neuf during the opening ceremony for the 2024 Olympics in Paris on Friday Picture: Maddie Meyer/via AP

Let’s face it, it was a failure. The rain, as if unleashed by a vengeful Olympian god upset at seeing what had become of the original games, failed to derail the extravaganza devised by Thomas Jolly, as Poseidon’s storms had failed to prevent Odysseus from reaching Ithaca. 

The saboteurs who paralysed most of France’s TGV system on the eve of the opening ceremony failed too.