Legendary rapper Snoop Dogg carried the Olympic torch through Paris ahead of tonight’s opening ceremony.
The Paris 2024 Olympic Games officially open on Friday evening, with more than 10,000 athletes gathering in boats on the River Seine.
Snoop Dogg, whose real name is Calvin Cordozar Broadus Jr, was one of several stars to take up the torch, alongside French actress Laetitia Casta and French rapper MC Solaar.
He was caught running his part of the race on Friday as Olympic officials were busy making final preparations to ensure the ceremony – and the Games – could go ahead as planned.
The 52-year-old man, dressed in full costume, had a big smile on his face as he carried the flame through the city, eagerly awaiting the launch.
Snoop Dogg will also contribute to NBC’s Olympic coverage. In a statement to the network in December, he went into great detail about his love for the Games.
“I grew up watching the Olympics and I’m excited to see incredible athletes bring their A-game to Paris,” he said ahead of the game. “It’s a celebration of skill, dedication and the pursuit of greatness.”
The artist is from the Los Angeles area, where the 2028 Olympic Games will be held.
Last month, he showed his support for Team USA when he attended the track and field events.
The rapper even got to run on the track in Eugene, Oregon and met Sha’Carri Richardson before she qualified for the Olympics.
During the parade, more than 3,000 artists will be present at the ceremony, while the delegations and passengers will be on stage.
The press conference before the ceremony was cancelled because the directors had to leave for final preparations. There was great concern about the amount of rain that would fall in the city.
The parade ends in front of the Trocadero, where the remaining performances and parts of the Olympic protocol will take place.
Although the floating parade was originally intended as a popular festival along the riverbanks, the French police have intervened and most spectators are assigned to a specific area for security reasons or are given seats in fenced-off areas for the ceremony.
Each country will debut its athletes, with one of the most recognizable names holding the national or regional flag at the start of the ceremony.
Greece traditionally debuts first, as a nod to the place where the Olympic Games originated, with the host country performing last.
The Olympic anthem is then sung after the head of state of the host country announces the start of the Games.
The iconic Olympic flame is then brought forward for the lighting of the main torch, the highlight of the opening ceremony and the release of the doves, which symbolize peace among all nations.
More rain is expected in Paris later today, but organizers hope it will continue to rain until after the ceremony.
Meanwhile, fears are growing that Moscow is behind a “massive arson attack” that has caused chaos on France’s rail network after an alleged Russian spy was arrested earlier this week.
Kirill Gryaznov, 40, was arrested Wednesday and accused of working “with a foreign power to provoke hostilities in France.” He was identified as an employee of the FSB, Vladimir Putin’s domestic intelligence agency.
Gryaznov, who denies any wrongdoing, is said to have bragged about turning the start of the Paris Olympics into “an opening ceremony like no other”.
Last night, just hours before the parade on the Seine, fires broke out at key locations, halting trains and affecting around 800,000 passengers.
Eurostar is advising passengers not to travel today after train services between London and Paris were disrupted by vandalism.
has reported that several trains have been cancelled and others have been diverted.
An airport on the Swiss-French border has also been evacuated and closed due to a bomb threat, French police said.
