He starts off by wishing a good evening to all: “Bon soir Paris, bon soir a France!”
He praises Tony Estanguet for his excellent leadership.
He does what every IOC president always does (rightly) and thanks the volunteers for what they are going to do in these two weeks and what they have done before now.
Dear fellow athletes. This is a pinnacle of your journey. You have come to Paris as athletes. Now you’re Olympians.
Stepping into the Olympic Village, you realise like generations of athletes before you, now I am part of something bigger than myself.
Now we all are part of an event that unites the world. In our Olympic world, there is no global south or global north. We all respect the same rules and each other. In our Olympic world we all belong. As Olympians, we care for each other.
In a world torn apart by war and violence, it’s thanks to this solidarity we can all come together tonight.
 We unite the athletes from the territories of all 206 nation Olympic Committees and the IOC refugee Olympic team. Welcome to the best athletes of the world. Welcome Olympians. Some may say, we the Olympic world are dreamers. But we are not the only ones. And our dream is coming true tonight, a reality for everyone to see.