Olympic viewing guide: It's Summer time

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The Paris Games have officially begun. Some 7,000 athletes from more than 200 countries on nearly 100 boats took an evening cruise down the Seine river toward the Eiffel Tower today for the pièce de résistance of the most ambitious Olympic opening ceremony ever.

Canadian flag-bearers Andre De Grasse and Maude Charron, both reigning Olympic champions, led their team on a large boat that also carried athletes from four other countries. About 200 Canadian athletes took part in the first opening ceremony in Summer Olympic history to be held outside of a stadium.

Pop music, all kinds of dancing and live performers complemented the floating parade, along with theatrical renditions of various things from Parisian history and culture — from the French Revolution to the Moulin Rouge. Lady Gaga helped kick things off with a cabaret-style performance, and French-Canadian star Céline Dion sang the closing number — her first public performance since revealing she was diagnosed with stiff person syndrome.

French soccer great Zinedine Zidane, and tennis stars Rafael Nadal of Spain and Serena Williams of the United States appeared during the final leg of the torch journey. Past French Olympic champions Teddy Riner and Marie-José Pérec lit the Olympic cauldron, which took flight under a hot-air balloon (a French invention).

Rain dampened the festivities a bit, as did this morning's news that arsonists struck France's high-speed rail network with a series of coordinated attacks, stranding an estimated quarter million people travelling to and from Paris.

Here in Canada, everything was overshadowed by troubling new developments in the Dronegate scandal involving the Olympic-champion women's soccer team.

More on that below, followed by our viewer's guide to the first full day of competition on Saturday. It features Canadian sensation Summer McIntosh in perhaps the most anticipated swimming race of these Games, and Canada's men's basketball opener against one of the biggest stars in the NBA.

Bev Priestman was suspended for the rest of the Olympics last night after Canadian officials determined she was likely aware that team staffers were using drones to spy on an opponent's practices in France.

Just to quickly recap the backstory: Priestman, a 38-year-old Englishwoman who guided Canada to its surprising Olympic gold medal in 2021, voluntarily sat out yesterday's opening 2-1 win over New Zealand while assistant coach Jasmine Mander and performance analyst Joey Lombardi were sent home after the New Zealanders complained about a drone flying over two of their closed-door practice sessions in Saint-Etienne, about 500 kilometres from Paris. Lombardi was arrested by police there (drones are strictly prohibited in Olympic airspace) and they said he admitted to spying on New Zealand's tactics. Priestman said she stepped aside for the opening match because she's "ultimately responsible for conduct in our program," but she denied that she directed the spying and Canadian Olympic Committee top executive David Shoemaker said Priestman was not involved in the drone use and had no knowledge of it.

Then, last night, Canada Soccer CEO Kevin Blue made the stunning announcement that the national governing body was suspending Priestman for the remainder of the Games after uncovering "additional information" about "previous drone use against opponents, predating" the Paris Games." Around this time, TSN reported that the Canadian women's and men's soccer teams have been using drones to spy on opponents "for years."

This morning, Shoemaker backtracked on his prior statement, saying new information showed Priestman was "highly likely" to have been aware that drones were used to view opposing practices in France. The COC boss also said there was evidence of spying at the 2021 Olympics in Tokyo, which could "tarnish" Canada's gold-medal performance.

Blue, the Canada Soccer head, said this morning that the federation met with the players and that they "have not been involved in any unethical behaviour" and did not see any of the drone footage in France. He added that Canada Soccer has asked the International Olympic Committee and FIFA to consider that as they weigh possible sanctions against the team. Priestman's future with the team, Blue said, will be decided upon completion of an investigation commissioned by the COC.

Retired goalie Steph Labbé, whose penalty-shootout saves were instrumental to Canada's gold-medal victory in Tokyo, tweeted that she studied opponents' tendencies on video but never watched drone footage. "Do not confuse great goalkeeping with cheating," she wrote. Former captain Christine Sinclair, who retired from the national team last year, also said she was never shown video from a drone.