Snoop Dogg has carried the Olympic torch by Paris forward of the opening ceremony this night – as viewers joked that it resembled a large hashish joint.
The rapper – well-known the world over for his love of marijuana – is in Paris as a particular correspondent for US TV community NBC and carried the Olympic flame on a brief run across the Stade de France this morning.
For Paris 2024, Olympic organisers turned to French designer Mathieu Lehanneur, who mentioned he drew inspiration from the themes of ‘equality, water and peacefulness’ in creating the curved metal beacon, which has ripples on its decrease half.
However viewers watching Snoop – actual title Calvin Cordozar Broadus Jr – instantly considered one thing else related to the rapper because it burned at one finish: a rippling hashish joint.
It prompted a tidal wave of memes on social media as pranksters manipulated pictures to swap the torch for an outsized spliff, whereas a cartoonist even sketched Snoop taking a draw from the torch.
Snoop Dogg has carried the Olympic torch in Paris forward of the opening ceremony on Friday night
However the torch’s distinctive look has led to comparisons to a hashish joint on social media – and an outpouring of memes
Some social media customers swapped the torch for an outsized spliff – whereas one cartoonist sketched Snoop carrying the torch ‘palms free’, smoking it like a joint
Social media was united in evaluating the torch to a hashish joint
The 2024 Paris Video games formally launch on Friday night, with over 10,000 athletes set to assemble on boats on the River Seine for the opening ceremony.
Final month, he ran a 34.44 within the 200m towards American athletes Ato Boldon and Wallace Spearmon
Snoop Dogg was considered one of many stars carrying the torch, with French actress Laetitia Casta and French rapper MC Solaar carrying the torch as effectively.
The 52-year-old, wearing all whereas, was all smiles as he carried the flame by the town with anticipation constructing forward of the launch.
The Dogg Father has been throwing himself into his unlikely facet gig as a sporting commentator, which started throughout the 2020 Tokyo Olympics as he took on work for American TV community Peacock.
Final month, he ran a 34.44 within the 200m towards American athletes Ato Boldon and Wallace Spearmon throughout the US Olympic Crew Trials in Eugene, Oregon.
‘34.44 for a 52-year-old? Ain’t dangerous,’ he mentioned after posing along with his time.
Snoop Dogg – identified for songs like The Subsequent Episode, with its ‘smoke weed day-after-day’ lyric – detailed his love of the Video games in a December assertion to the community.
‘I grew up watching the Olympics and am thrilled to see the unbelievable athletes convey their A-game to Paris,’ he mentioned previous to the carry. ‘It is a celebration of talent, dedication, and the pursuit of greatness.’
The performer hails from the Los Angeles space, the place the 2028 Olympics will probably be held.
He confirmed his assist for Crew USA final month when he attended the monitor and subject trials.
The rapper even acquired to run on the monitor in Eugene, Oregon and met with Sha’Carri Richardson earlier than she sealed Olympic qualification.
In the course of the parade, in the meantime, there will probably be over 3,000 performers within the ceremony with the delegations and passengers on the boasts.
The pre-ceremony press convention was cancelled resulting from administrators being pulled away for last-minute preparations, with concern rife over the amount of rain within the metropolis.
The parade will end in entrance of the Trocadero the place the remaining performances and components of the Olympic protocol will happen.
Though the floating parade was initially deliberate as a folks’s occasion alongside the banks, the French police have intervened and for safety causes most spectators will probably be assigned to an space or allotted seats in fenced-off areas for the ceremony.
Snoop Dogg has embraced his unlikely position as a sports activities commentator for the Olympics – and even joined US athletes to run monitor final month
The rapper, who will probably be a part of NBC’s protection of the Video games, was all smiles as he walked with the torch in hand
Behind the scenes, officers have been scrambling to complete last-minute preparations for present
‘I grew up watching the Olympics and am thrilled to see the unbelievable athletes convey their A-game to Paris,’ Snoop Dogg mentioned previous to the carry
Every nation will debut their athletes with considered one of their most prolific names holding their nationwide or regional flags initially of the ceremony.
Greece historically debut first as a nod to the place the Olympics first originated, with the host nation being final to function.
The Olympic anthem will then ring out after the pinnacle of state of the host nation pronounces the graduation of the Video games.
The long-lasting Olympic flame will then be introduced ahead for the lighting of the primary torch which is the fruits of the opening ceremony in addition to the discharge of doves, symbolising peace amongst all nations.
Extra rain is scheduled for afterward at this time in Paris, however organisers will hope that it holds off till after the ceremony has concluded.
Fears are, in the meantime, mounting that Moscow could also be behind a ‘large arson assault’ which has introduced chaos to France’s rail community after an alleged Russian spy was arrested earlier this week.
Kirill Gryaznov, 40, was arrested on Wednesday and charged with working ‘with a international energy to try to incite hostilities in France’ after being recognized as working for the FSB, Vladimir Putin’s home intelligence company.
Gryaznov – who denies any wrongdoing – is alleged to have boasted about turning the beginning of the Paris Olympics into ‘a gap ceremony like no different’.
Fears are mounting that Moscow could also be behind a ‘large arson assault’ which has introduced chaos to France’s rail community
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Final night time, with simply hours to go earlier than the procession on the River Seine, fires had been began at key installations, bringing trains to a halt and affecting round 800,000 passengers.
The Eurostar is advising passengers to not journey at this time after its rail providers between London and Paris had been disrupted by the acts of vandalism, the
has reported, with a number of trains cancelled and others diverted.
An airport positioned on the Swiss-French border has additionally been evacuated and closed resulting from a bomb alert, the French police mentioned.
