Explained: Why did Simone Biles, Katie Ledecky & other top athletes skip Paris Olympics 2024 opening ceremony

With the opening ceremony of the Paris Olympics concluded on Friday (June 26), the 33rd edition of the mega event is officially underway. The ceremony saw numerous global stars and top athletes around the world grace the opening ceremony of the quadrennial event.

Amidst this star-studded ceremony, there were also a few formidable athletes such as Simone Biles and Katie Ledecky who skipped the opening ceremony of the Paris Olympics. The major reason for this is the upcoming schedule of these athletes for the next few days.

Ledecky who is one of the most prominent freestyle swimmers of this generation has the Women's 400m freestyle prelims on Saturday from 5 A.M ET. Owing to this, the 27-year-old skipped the opening ceremony to give her body complete rest before her competition on Saturday.

On the other hand, Simone Biles also has the women's qualification rounds on Sunday (June 28) which caused her to skip the ceremony around the river Seine to keep her body completely relaxed and away from any stress before the main competitions.

Biles's mother, Nellie Biles recently came forward and clarified about Simone Biles' absence from the opening ceremony of the Paris Olympics. In a conversation with NBC News, she said:

"The first competition is Sunday, which is woman’s qualifier, and of course she needs to rest up before that competition."

Besides Biles, various other members of the Team USA Artistic Gymnastics team such as Suni Lee and Jordan Chiles also skipped the opening ceremony of the event.

Who represented Team USA at the opening ceremony of the Paris Olympics?

Team USA during the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games (Image Via: Getty)

Numerous US athletes from various disciplines graced the stage during the opening ceremony of the 2024 Paris Olympics. High-profile athletes such as Steph Curry, Noah Lyles, etc. were all present during this grand ceremony.

However, the two US athletes who got the most prestigious opportunity to carry the US flag during the ceremony were none other than the NBA legend, Lebron James and the 2023 US Open Champion, Coco Gauff.

James recently elaborated on this opportunity that he got from Team USA to be the flag bearer in a Team USA statement:

“It’s an incredible honor to represent the United States on this global stage, especially in a moment that can bring the whole world together,”

James, 39 will be competing in the fourth Olympics of his career and has already got two Olympic golds to his name while Gauff on the other hand will compete at the first Olympics of her career (she had to withdraw in 2021 due to covid).