Flagbearers Aaron Gate and Jo Aleh are surrounded by New Zealand tea-mates aboard a barge sailing on the Seine River during the Paris Olympics opening ceremony. Photo: Iain McGregor / Photosport
New Zealand athletes haven't let a Paris downpour or security fears detract from their enjoyment of a colourful, razzle-dazzle Olympics opening ceremony.
About 70 members of the 195-strong New Zealand team cheered noisily on a barge as they waved to crowds lined on the banks of the Seine River.
Jo Aleh and Aaron Murray Gate, Flagbearers of Team New Zealand, look on with a Flag of Team New Zealand on a boat on the River Seine during the opening ceremony. Photo: HANNAH PETERS
Jo Aleh and Aaron Gate, wearing kākahu (cloaks) as the team's flagbearers, soaked up the atmosphere as they waved the New Zealand flag on the long barge which also carried team members from Oman, Uganda, Uzbekistan and Pakistan during a 90-minute voyage.
They were part of a flotilla of more than 6000 athletes and officials in one of the features of the opening ceremony, that also included dancers on Parisian rooftops, performers acting out some of the Olympic sports on floating platforms, and songs from Lady Gaga and French-Malian singer Aya Nakamura, before Celine Dion made her singing comeback.
Heavy rain started to fall during the four-hour ceremony, with some members of the New Zealand team donning plastic ponchos during their voyage.
Sailor Greta Pilkington, who was at her first Olympics, said she held off for as long as she could before donning a poncho, not that it offered much waterproofing.
"I'm pretty drenched through, I wasn't rocking the poncho at first, I was kinda like I will brave it through, but I have submitted to it now," she said after the river trip.
Pilkington loved every minute of the journey. "It was cool to see the teams, all the supporters, Eiffel Tower, it was epic.''
Fellow sailor Erica Dawson had a similar beat about the poncho and the experience, saying: "Seeing the Eiffel Tower with the rings lit up on it was really cool."
New Zealand athletes on the team boat during the opening ceremony for the Olympic Games in Paris. Photo: HANNAH PETERS/POOL/AFP
The Kiwi athletes had the option when they disembarked the boat of staying on for the formal part of the opening ceremony at the Trocadero where the dignitaries were seated, but most opted to return back to the Olympic village, missing out on Celine Dion's singing comeback as she sang the Edith Piaf's classic L'Hymne A l'Amour to close the opening ceremony.
NZOC chief executive Nigel Avery told RNZ on Thursday that staying on for the formalities would have meant the team would not have got back to the village until around 2am. Judging by the empty space around the platform, it appears very few athletes elected to stay on for the speeches and lighting of the Olympic torch.
Tens of thousands of police and soldiers were stationed throughout the city, with security at high alert after France's high-speed train network was sabotaged before the ceremony, causing chaos for commuters.
Kiwi athletes in action later on Saturday include swimmer Erika Fairweather, tennis players Lulu Sun and Erin Routliffe, canoe slalom racer Luuka Jones and the equestrians Tim and Jonelle Price and Clarke Johnstone.
