Summer Olympics Set To Begin In Paris

The event will air live on NBC and stream live on Peacock. Live coverage begins at 11 a.m. central time with primetime beginning at 6:30 p.m. The opening ceremony will not be held in a stadium as other Olympic opening ceremonies. The procession will take place on the Seine River with the athletes traveling in boats through the center of Paris.

The Parade of Nations will begin beneath the Austerlitz Bridge and pass by Notre Dame, Pont-Neuf and the Louvre and will end at the Trocedero near the Eiffel Tower. The length of the parade is 3.7 miles and will last approximately four hours.

LeBron James and Coco Gauff have been selected as the flag bearers for Team USA.

There will be 10,500 athletes parading through Paris and the event will take 4 1/2 hours.

Since the 1928 Summer Olympics, Greece has entered first and leads the parade in honor of their role in the ancient Olympic games. The host nation, France, will enter last.

Performing at the Olympics will be Celine Dion and Lady Gaga along with the most listened to French singer worldwide, Aya Nakamura.

The United States has 592 athletes competing.

Snoop Dogg will be carrying the Olympic torch on Friday, the day of the opening ceremony, in Saint-Denis, where the Olympics Village housing athletes is based. Dogg will be a special correspondent for NBC during the Games. He will carry the torch alongside French model-turned-actor Laetitia Casta and rapper MC Solaar.

The Olympics actually start today with competition in soccer and rugby. The U.S. will meet France in rugby at 9:30 a.m. and will battle against France in soccer at 2 p.m.

The soccer match holds local interest as Patrick Schulte is the goalie for the U.S. soccer team. Several relatives live in the area including great-aunt Pat Brumleve of Effingham. Brumleve's sister Mary Jo is his grandmother, Kay Jansen, a great-aunt from Effingham, Don Brumleve a great-uncle and Judy Wittenberg, a great-aunt from Strasburg.