MINSK, 26 July (BelTA) - The Games of the XXXIII Olympiad will officially open in Paris today. Seventeen representatives of Belarus will take part in the Games as neutral athletes and compete in ten sports,
BelTA has learned.The opening ceremony of the Games will be held in an unusual format. Instead of the traditional parade of athletes in the stadium bowl, the ceremony will take place against the backdrop of the French capital's landmarks: on the Seine embankment, and athletes will sail on boats along its water area. About 10,000 athletes will cross the center of Paris along the river from east to west to the Trocadero esplanade in front of the Eiffel Tower, where the rest of the ceremony and the final opening show will take place.
Team Belarus will start the Games in the morning of 27 July. Yauheni Zalaty and Tatsiana Klimovich will take part in the preliminary heats in rowing. Ilya Shymanovich will compete in the 100m breaststroke. On the same day, Anna Terekh will compete in the road cycling individual time trial.
Team Belarus includes:
Greco-Roman wrestling
1. Abubakar Khaslakhanau
Cycling2. Hanna Tserakh
Rowing
3. Yauheni Zalaty4. Tatsiana Klimovich
Canoe sprint
5. Uladzislau Kravets6. Yulia Trushkina
Swimming
7. Ilya Shymanovich8. Anastasiya Shkurdai9. Alina Zmushka
Trampoline
10. Viyaleta Bardzilouskaya
11. Ivan Litvinovich
Shooting
12. Darya Chuprys
13. Aliaksandra Piatrova
Taekwondo
14. Georgi Gurtsiev
Weightlifting
15. Siuzanna Valodzka
16. Yauheni Tsikhantsou
Russians will also compete as neutral athletes, 15 Russian athletes have been admitted to the Games. In total, more than 10,000 athletes from 206 countries will take part in the 2024 Summer Games which will include 329 medal events in 32 sports. The closing ceremony of the Games will be held on 11 August.