French judoka Teddy Riner and sprinter Marie-José Pérec, a three-time Olympic gold medallist, light Olympic flame
Celine Dion then performs partway up the Eiffel Tower
Lady Gaga, Zinedine Zidane and the Minions among those involved in breathtaking performance
Diver Tom Daley and rower Helen Glover Great Britain's flagbearers
Watch: Rapper Snoop Dogg carries Olympic torch through Paris
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Emeli Sande singing Abide With Me in 2012 while dancers commemorated the 7/7 London Bombings. Was watching on TV with friends, expecting the ceremony to be a bit naff after the spectacle of Beijing, and we were all left in stunned, teary silence.
Luke, Leeds
The men's rugby sevens is also in full swing - take a look at the best of the tries from Day minus-One here.
Video available in the UK only.
Trinity Rodman and Mariona Caldentey star in our goals of the day from yesterday's Olympic football action.
Video available in the UK only.
Image source, Getty ImagesOne of the stranger stories in the build-up to the Games has been in the pool - where an Australian swimming coach has been caught out over split loyalties.
Michael Palfrey has been admonished after saying he hoped South Korean swimmer Kim Woo-min beats his Australian rivals to the 400m freestyle gold.
Palfrey - who works with Kim, as well as being one of the coaches on the Australian team, made a "serious error of judgement" according to the Australian Olympic Committee.
The coach is still in Paris, with the men's 400m freestyle event to take place on Saturday.
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I know 2012 is the obvious go to, but Danny Boyle just reminding us the UK is a brilliant place for alternative culture. Flying bikes while the Arctic Monkeys cover the Beatles and of course Macca himself gets wheeled out for a crowd singalong of Hey Jude. Properly the best of British!
Carl, Wakefield
Image source, Getty ImagesOne superstar we won't be seeing in Paris is men's tennis world number one Jannik Sinner.
He's had to pull out because of tonsillitis, having struggled with illness during his Wimbledon quarter-final loss to Daniil Medvedev earlier in July.
The tennis gets under way at Roland Garros tomorrow.
Image source, Getty ImagesThree-time Grand Slam champion Angelique Kerber said on Thursday that she is going to retire from tennis after the Olympic Games in Paris.
The 36-year-old German, a former world number one, won the Australian Open and US Open titles in 2016, and then Wimbledon two years later.
She competed at the 2016 Olympics in Rio when she won silver in the women's singles, having been beaten by Puerto Rican Monica Puig in the final, and did not compete at the Tokyo Games.
"The finish line," said Kerber on social media. "Before the Olympics begin, I can already say that I will never forget Paris 2024, because it will be my last professional tournament as a tennis player."
Paris 2024: Andy Murray says it is the 'right time' for him to retire from tennis
Andy Murray announced on Thursday that he will be competing only in the doubles in Paris as he brings his glorious tennis career to an end.
Murray has withdrawn from the singles at Roland Garros, but will still team up with fellow Briton Dan Evans.
The three-time Grand Slam champion had already confirmed he will retire at the end of what is his fifth Games.
"I’ve taken the decision to withdraw from the singles to concentrate on the doubles with Dan," a statement from Murray read.
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My favourite Olympics opening ceremony moment was Mr Bean at the 2012 Olympics. It was a lovely surprise.
Jamie, Marlow
Got to be Queen Elizabeth’s parachute jump, then she walks to her arena seat wearing the same dress. Brilliant.
Helen Johnson
I should add a disclaimer that is was not actually the late Queen who performed the skydive in 2012, but a stunt performer. Still, no question it was an iconic opening ceremony moment.
The men's football tournament began on Wednesday with a chaotic match between Argentina and Morocco in Saint-Etienne that took more than four hours to complete.
Crowd trouble forced play to be suspended for more than two hours, with the match eventually completed in an empty stadium.
Morocco were leading 2-1 Argentina appeared to level the match 16 minutes into second-half injury time, with bottles thrown on to the turf and a pitch invasion by some supporters in Morocco colours.
But shortly before play was restarted, Argentina's equaliser was ruled out for offside following intervention from the video assistant referee - and Morocco then held on for the win.
Image source, Getty ImagesFormer marathon world champion Paula Radcliffe said on Thursday she was "very sorry" after wishing a convicted rapist competing at the Olympics the "best of luck".
Steven van de Velde (pictured), who was named in the Netherlands beach volleyball squad for Paris 2024, was sentenced to four years in prison in 2016 after pleading guilty to raping a 12-year-old British girl when he was 19.
The 29-year-old resumed his volleyball career after serving 12 months of his four-year sentence and was selected in June for the Dutch Olympic team for the Games.
"I am mortified that I expressed it so badly and didn’t condemn the rape out loud," said Radcliffe.
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Best opening ceremony moment: Cathy Freeman lighting the torch in Sydney.
Paul in Leics
Image source, Getty Images
Image source, Getty Images
Image source, Getty ImagesCharlotte Dujardin, Britain's joint-most decorated female Olympian, has pulled out of Paris 2024 after a video emerged showing her "making an error of judgement".
The six-time dressage medallist said she is under investigation from the International Federation for Equestrian Sports (FEI) and will "withdraw from all competition while this process takes place".
The 39-year-old also said she was under investigation from the British Equestrian Federation and British Dressage.
"What happened was completely out of character and does not reflect how I train my horses or coach my pupils, however there is no excuse," she said in statement.
"I am deeply ashamed and should have set a better example in that moment."
Image source, Getty ImagesThe Olympic may not officially open until tonight, but already there have been plenty of stories and drama from the Games and around the world.
Here's a quick catch-up on the major talking points so far...
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Surely the coolest moment from any opening ceremony was the Queen and James Bond skydiving into the stadium in 2012. I wonder what it was like for Daniel Craig, first hearing the Queen’s “good evening Mr Bond”…
Richard
Favourite Olympic Opening ceremony moment: Los Angeles 1984 - 84 grand pianos playing Rhapsody in Blue. So unexpected, like nothing I had seen before, and there's been nothing like it for impact since.
Des
Over on BBC Radio 5 Live this morning, Nicky Campbell is getting into the mood for the Games with his phone in. The theme is: The Olympics, sport and you?
You can listen over on BBC Sounds.
Matt Henry there, using his years of experience covering English cricket for the BBC to expertly live text puddles and rain.
Matthew Henry
BBC Sport in Paris
This wasn’t in the script.
Plenty of puddles in Paris…
Eurostar services in France to and from Paris are being diverted and several trains have been delayed, the rail firm has said.
The high speed line between Paris and Lille has been affected while journey times have increased by 90 minutes following "co-ordinated acts of malice in France".
Several trains have been cancelled.
Trains between Paris and London are still running on "classic" lines but passengers can expect journey times to be an hour longer.
The president of the SNCF group told French news outlet BFMTV that 800,000 customers have been affected.
He said that the network was prepared for the Olympics but that they are now looking at mobilising hundreds of personnel to fix the network as quickly as possible.
You can read more on this developing story in our dedicated news live here.
Katie Falkingham
BBC Sport in Paris
Most of the bridges across the Seine have been closed this week as Paris prepares for this evening’s opening ceremony.
On a walk around the city yesterday, we managed to find one - Pont des Invalides - that was open, giving us this sneak peek of what could be to come tonight. A skate park floating on the water?
Image source, BBC SportAlso, please note Paris does not look like this today. It’s grey and drizzly and I was very upset to have to unpack my raincoat this morning.
