The Barbados Olympics team beamed with pride as Paris kicked off its first Summer Olympics in a century with a spectacular opening ceremony along the Seine River.Fully decked in the national colours of ultramarine and gold, Team Barbados which comprises of two sprinters, Sada Williams and Tristan Evelyn, who have qualified for the 400m round 1 and 100m preliminary round, respectively, triathlete Matthew Wright, who has qualified for the Men’s Individual, and swimmer Jack Kirby, who qualified for the 100m Freestyle – Heat 1 along team officials June Caddle and Dr Carl Ward were among thousand participating in the grand arrival to the games.French President Emmanuel Macron declared the Olympic Games open on Friday after a soaking wet ceremony in which athletes were cheered by the crowd along the Seine, dancers took to the roofs of Paris and Lady Gaga sang a French cabaret song.France’s three-time Olympic gold medallists Marie-Jose Perec and Teddy Riner then lit the Olympic cauldron, suspended on a hot-air balloon, before Canada’s Celine Dion sang Edith Piaf’s “Hymn to Love”, in her first public performance in years, drawing huge cheers from the crowd.The 30-metre (98 ft) high balloon carrying a 7-metre diametre ring of fire took to the air and was hovering dozens of metres above the ground.
