The Holy Book teaches us how to be different. Romans 12:1-2, reveals that the Holy Spirit, through Apostle Paul, said that God wants man to “dare to be different

(because ) it’s for (our) own good”.
That was what the French did on Friday, July 26 at the spectacular Opening Ceremony of the 33rd Olympic Games holding in their capital, Paris.

It’s exactly 100 years they hosted the Olympic Games for the second time after they first did it in 1900. And they wanted to do it differently this time.

And they did it in such a way that the next host, and many others to come, have be given a big task to think out of the box to put a better show.

It was the first time in Olympic history that the Opening Ceremony was being performed outside the Olympic Stadium of the host city.

It was also the first time that participating athletes would not do the traditional march-past but are paraded in a boat cruise on a river, Paris’ River Seine.

Another first is that the Olympic flame which is usually on a cauldron inside the stadium was given a different touch this time around.

The cauldron sat below a hot-air balloon which when lit, was elevated into the skyward where it will stay for the duration of the Games which closes August 11, 2024.

The French really celebrated the Paris Games this time around in a spectacular fashion despite the heavy rains yesterdat. The Paris night was very colourful especially with the symbol of the city, the Eiffel Towers adorned in light all through the ceremony.

The race to light the Olympic flame was another spectacle as the organisers lined up an array of sports icons to take the flame from the anonymous torch bearer up till it got to the base of the vault and they were gender sensitive all through.

Check out the relay – the torch bearer who ran across Paris streets passed it to one of France’s greatest footballers, Zinedine Zidane who handed it over to a Spaniard, Rafael Nadal, a 14-time French Open winner.

Nadal took it to a speed boat which had great athletes like famous French Open multiple winner Serena Williams and another great Olympian, Carl Lewis.

The torch was passed from this group to Tony Parker, a French former NBA player through Paralympians, Nantenin Keita and Marie-Amelie Le Fur who passed it to the duo of Marie-Jose Perec and Teddy Riner, French Olympics greats who finally lit the cauldron together, again the first time it is happening.

Perec had the opportunity to light the cauldron like her Australian rival in the 400m back in the day, Cathy Freeman did 24 years ago when Sydney hosted the Games.

The night was electric with different musical performances which began with Lady Gaga and ended with the famous Canadian singer and Power of Love crooner, 56-year old Celine Marie Claudette Dion who was returning to music after a lay-off caused by illness.

She held the spectators, who defied the rains and were watching from the banks of the River Seine spellbound with the rendition of Edith Piaf’s “L’Hymne à l’amour” (“Hymn to Love”) song.

It was all messages of love from Tony Estanguet, Paris 2024 Organizing Committee President to IOC President, Thomas Bach and French President, Emmanuel Macron who in a few words declared the Games open.

While Estanguet told the participants to feel at home in Paris all through the duration of the Games, Bach used the occasion of his speech to preach peace in a world littered with conflicts, insurgencies and wars.

He said: “You have come to Paris as athletes, now you are Olympians. Now, we are all part of an event that unites the world. There is no Global South or Global North. We all care for each other. We live in solidarity with each other. In a world torn apart by wars and conflicts, it’s thanks to this solidarity that we can all come together tonight, uniting the athletes from the territories of all 206 National Olympic Committees and the IOC Refugee Olympic Team”.

It will be nice to see how athletes from Israel and Palestine will relate if they come across each other in any event. The same goes for an encounter between Russian and Ukrainian athletes, even though the 15 Russian athletes cleared by the IOC to take part will not be competing under the Russian flag. A meeting between them may evoke some bittersweet memories no matter how hard they try to suppress it.

The more reason Bach’s call for nations to use the occasion of the 2024 Olympics to make peace and call for a truce makes a lot of sense.

Even beyond the Olympics, a forceful call was during the week made by the Democrats’ favoured nominee for the US November presidential election, Kamala Harris on the Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu on the need to end the hostility in Gaza for the sake of suffering children and women.

Why she recognizes Israel’s right to self-defence and condemned Hamas, she added that the Palestinians should be allowed to “exercise their right to freedom, dignity and self determination.”

Pope Francis was not left out in the outpouring of messages of peace and love around the world using the Paris Olympics as a tool.

Days before the Games began, he expressed his hope that it “will provide an opportunity for countries at war to respect an ancient Greek tradition and establish a truce for the duration of the Games”.

It is his hope that the Paris Games “be an opportunity to establish a truce in wars, demonstrating a sincere will for peace”.

Meanwhile Nigerians await to see if the Sports Minister, Senator John Enoh’s prediction that Team Nigeria will surpass the two gold medals they won at the Atlanta 96 Olympics will come to pass.