One boat, four GOATs: Serena Williams, Rafael Nadal, Carl Lewis and Nadia Comaneci comprised a star-studded squad that helped close out the torch relay for the 2024 Summer Olympics opening ceremony Friday.
Over the course of three months, the torch seared its flames across 450 towns and cities — spanning 65 regions, including five overseas territories.
Once it reached the Eiffel Tower — after starting in Olympia, Greece, the birthplace of the Olympics — Nadal was in charge of carrying the flame as part of an epic boat ride down the Seine River.
Serena Williams, Rafael Nadal, Carl Lewis and Nadia deliver the Olympic torch in a boat Getty Images
Rafael Nadal continues to carry the torch after it reached the Eiffel Tower. Getty ImagesFrance is no stranger to Nadal, who won a record 14 French Open titles — which was highlighted by his five-year winning streak from 2010-14.
2024 PARIS OLYMPICS
- The final results and medal count from the Paris Games
- Jordan Chiles’ Olympic bronze not returned despite ‘conclusive’ evidence
- Luana Alonso returns to training after Olympics featured abrupt retirement
- https://nypost.com/2024/08/08/sports/joel-embiid-taunts-paris-crowd-ahead-of-usa-gold-medal-game-with-france/
- Weightlifting medalist Emily Campbell tears into Paris’ Olympic Village
- The Post’s 10 best moments of the 2024 Paris Olympics
Moreover, a statue of the star was etched in 2021 outside the stadium, following his 112-4 record at Roland Garros.
Nadal was the one who rallied it over to the hands of Amelie Mauresmo, departing from the boat.
Mauresmo dished it to Tony Parker, the San Antonio Spurs superstar.
US tennis player Serena Williams reacts prior to hand over the Olympics torch during the opening ceremony of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games in Paris on July 26, 2024. AFP via Getty Images
Tony Parker – San Antonio Spurs superstar – runs with the flame AFP via Getty ImagesThe floor general was one of the pioneers for four of the Spurs’ NBA titles, and he would continue to run with the torch after handing it over to three other French athletes.
The legendary night continued when two three-time Olympic champions — Teddy Riner in judo and track and field’s Marie-José Pérec — lit the cauldron.
Charles Coste — who at 100 years old is the oldest French Olympic champion — lit their torches for the 23-foot-wide ring of flames alongside a 100-foot-tall hot-air balloon that soared through the night’s sky.
A general view of a balloon carrying the Olympic Cauldron rises to conclude the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games Paris 2024 on July 26, 2024 in Paris, France. Getty ImagesThe Olympic Flame is set to shine without fuel for the first time ever at the Olympic Games.
Not to mention, Celine Dion – the iconic singer who also sang at the 1996 opening ceremony in Atlanta – stepped into the spotlight with a surreal performance that followed the lighting of the Olympic Cauldron.






