A historic boat trip, a massive security effort, and an artist who has got the French right wing to rage.
Here is a guide to the OS opening ceremony in Paris.
+ OS starts before the opening ceremony
The OS "sneak starts" on Wednesday with both football and rugby. But it's on Friday that the games officially start with the opening ceremony.
The opening ceremony begins at 19.30 and can be followed in Sweden on Max, Channel 5, and Eurosport 1.
+ Travel six kilometers by boat
For the first time ever, the opening ceremony for a summer OS will not take place in an arena. Instead, it's on the Seine River that it happens.
Thousands of Olympians will travel a six-kilometer-long stretch from the Austerlitz Bridge to the Trocadéro area by boat.
The organizer describes the opening ceremony as "bold, original, and unique." The French actor Thomas Jolly, who is behind the opening ceremony, wants to depict the French essence.
France is a story that never stops being constructed, deconstructed, and reconstructed. It lives, it remains alive, he says to AP.
+ 300,000 spectators
According to the organizer, the opening ceremony will be the largest in OS history. To follow the ceremony closest to the water requires a ticket, but otherwise, it's free admission. Eighty large screens have been placed around the area.
Initially, the plan was for the boat trip to be followed by 600,000 spectators, but that number has now been reduced to around 300,000.
+ Massive security effort
The unusual opening ceremony has raised big question marks about how to guarantee security.
French President Emmanuel Macron has previously, according to AFP, said that the opening ceremony can be moved "if we see that there are risks."
In November 2015, the Paris area was subjected to several terrorist attacks, including outside the national arena Stade de France, where three suicide bombers detonated simultaneously as France and Germany played a football match.
"I count on each and every one of you to show France from its best side: as considerate, friendly, and professional," he writes in a statement according to AP.
Around 45,000 police will be on site during the opening ceremony and 30,000 every day during the rest of the games.
+ Who lights the flame?
Who will get to light the Olympic flame at the opening ceremony? That remains to be seen. Reuters has listed five potential candidates:
Track and field legend Marie-Jose Perec, actor Omar Sy, football legend Zinedine Zidane, astronaut Thomas Pesquet, or one of the survivors of the terrorist attacks in Paris in November 2015.
+ Anger in the French right wing
It also remains to be seen which artists will perform during the opening ceremony. A video of Lady Gaga, who is in Paris, has led many to believe that the American singer will participate.
Most of the buzz has been about the Malian-born French artist Aya Nakamura, who is expected to perform. This has led to anger from the right wing, which has accused her of being vulgar and not respecting the French language, according to AFP. Marine Le Pen from the far-right party National Rally has said that Nakamura would "humiliate France".
+ A highly political opening ceremony
The OS opening ceremony will, as usual, be highly political. Russian and Belarusian athletes will participate in the OS under a neutral flag and with demands for neutrality – but they will not be allowed to participate in the opening ceremony.
A decision that has made Russia angry.
"We are outraged over the unprecedented discriminatory conditions imposed by the International Olympic Committee," said Maria Zakharova, spokesperson for the Russian Foreign Ministry, according to AFP.
French President Emmanuel Macron is expected to be the one to open the Olympic Games. From the American side, USA's First Lady Jill Biden will lead a delegation including several senators.
+ Third time with two Swedish flag bearers?
On Thursday evening, it will be revealed who will carry the Swedish flag. The last two games – the summer OS 2021 in Tokyo and the winter OS 2022 in Beijing – have had a male and a female athlete share the task. Something that the IOC has previously encouraged teams to do as part of its equality work.
In 2021, it was Max Salminen, sailing, and Sara Algotsson Ostholt, equestrian. In 2022, it was Emma Nordin, ice hockey, and Oliwer Magnusson, freestyle.
