Central Paris is quiet and damp as the city makes final preparations.
A man rides his bicycle past the security barrier in front of the Hôtel des Invalides in Paris on a rainy Tuesday morning. Keir Simons/NBC News
PARIS — Amid rain in Paris, a sense of the calm before the storm, preparations are underway for an opening ceremony showcasing the best of the city’s landmarks.
The city centre is unusually quiet this morning with the route for the Olympic opening ceremony closed, but a bike ride from the Île de la Cité to the Eiffel Tower shows how much work has already been done to prepare the Seine for the Games.
There are bleachers on every bridge and giant television screens line the riverbanks.
Spectators are being set up along major bridges over the Seine ahead of the opening ceremony of the Paris Olympics, scheduled for Friday. Keir Simmons/NBC News
Meanwhile, the Pont de la Concorde is currently closed. Once reopened, the historic Place de la Concorde will be accessible to tourists and will house a huge temporary venue for modern sports such as breaking.
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Further on, you’ll see the Hôtel des Invalides, perched on the Paris 2024 enclosure, a 17th-century hospital for wounded soldiers where the archery competition will take place.
And from the riverbank next to the Pont d’Iena you can see the huge arena beneath the Trocadero, the Champions Park where Olympic medallists can meet with their fans.
At the 1924 Paris Olympics, a black American athlete won the first gold medal.
Keil Simmons and Corky Siemaczko William DeHart Hubbard. Getty Images
A century ago, in a small stadium outside Paris, William DeHart Hubbard, a college track star from Ohio, made a dramatic breakthrough for himself and all African-Americans in his hometown in a racially segregated United States.
Defeating the world’s best long jumpers at the 1924 Paris Olympics, Hubbard became the first black athlete to win an individual gold medal at the Olympics.
Hubbard’s nephew, former Ohio Secretary of State Kenneth Blackwell, told NBC News that his uncle knew that when Hubbard raced down the track to the sandlot and into history, his muscular body held the hopes and dreams of millions of black Americans.
Read the full story here.
How many times will Katie Ledecky be able to swim the Arc de Triomphe at this Olympics?
The Arc de Triomphe in Paris. Mauro Pimentel/AFP – Getty Images
The new Seine-Saint-Denis Aquatics Center’s Olympic pool is part of the only new permanent facility built for the Games. At 164 feet long, it’s almost as tall as the French capital’s famous Arc de Triomphe.
That means Katie Ledecky will swim the distance of 124 Arc de Triomphes during the Paris Games.
The United States has led the medal count at the Summer Olympics since 1996.
Michael Johnson wins gold in the men’s 200 meters at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics. Mike Hewitt/Getty Images file
The United States has taken the top spot at every Summer Olympics since 1996. At the last Tokyo Olympics, the United States again led the medal count with 113 medals, 24 more than runner-up China.
Tokyo also marked the third consecutive Olympics in which U.S. women brought home more medals than men: They won 66 of the U.S. medals, or 58 percent of the total, a higher percentage than any other team except the Chinese and Russian Olympic Committees.
Maybe it’s because the U.S. team for the Tokyo Olympics had more women than men — about 329 of the 613 total athletes were women — or maybe it’s just pure girl power.
President Biden announces complete U.S. inaugural delegation
The Olympic Rings are seen outside the World Trade Center Transportation Hub in New York City. Liao Pan / China News Service via Getty Images
President Joe Biden has announced the U.S. delegation heading to the Paris Olympics.
Among them are First Lady Jill Biden, Sen. Chris Coons (D-Delaware), Sen. Alex Padilla (D-Calif.) and Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass.
Other members of the presidential delegation include French Ambassador Denise Campbell Bauer, Los Angeles 2028 Olympic and Paralympic Games Chair Casey Wasserman, Olympic figure skater Brian Boitano and basketball coach and Olympian Dawn Staley.
Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff will lead the U.S. delegation at the closing ceremony on Aug. 11.
