On Saturday, history repeated itself under the Eiffel Tower. The fans crowded the stands of one of the most spectacular venues of the Olympic Games, the improvised beach volleyball court. Once again, they braved the rain and enthusiastic spectators splashed through puddles. 

After a rain-soaked Opening Ceremony the day before, the first day of sport was equally wet. Spectators in the specially built stadium huddled under umbrellas, hats and raincoats. The cyclists got wet during the time trial through Paris, as did the beach volleyball players.

The rain poured down as the men's teams from the United States and Cuba took to the sand for their opening match. The skateboard competition had already been the subject of a postponement on Saturday. Its schedule was disrupted, but beach volleyball is rarely called off because of rain, only storms.

It was expected when the athletes got soaked on the practice courts during warm-up, unable to find the ideal outfit for the occasion, a mix of tracksuits, shorts and the characteristic bikinis for which the sport is known. Outside the stadium, wooden walkways swayed over muddy puddles. 

Fans carrying their national flags covered themselves with a variety of ponchos, berets and Paris 2024 baseball caps. It was quite a sight. The forecast for the coming days is better, but the first day will be remembered for its real protagonist: the rain.

"It's terrible, but it's Paris," said Thibault Fournes, a visitor from northern France. "He added to AFP, "I don't think it will stop me from having a good time."

Beach volleyball has become one of the most popular events at the Olympic Games since it was first included in 1996, and the stadiums were mostly full. No one wanted to miss out on this always attractive sport. "I don't think the weather will spoil it at all, it's a once-in-a-lifetime experience," said Sonya Chiu, 44, from New York. "Even though it's raining cats and dogs, everyone is in a good mood."

The sudden change in the weather has forced spectators to wear all kinds of clothes. "We bought sun cream and sun hats - we didn't use them at all. But we spent five euros each on ponchos yesterday and they were great," said Sydney Swanson, 31, from Texas. "Best five euros I've ever spent," agreed her husband Axel.

Cuba's Noslen Diaz Amaro and Jorge Luis Alayo Moliner easily won the first match against the US pair of Miles Partain and Andrew Benesh. The USA are the reigning women's Olympic champions. They haven't won gold in the men's competition since Beijing 2008.

Next to take to the sand were Sweden's top-ranked pair of David Åhman and Jonatan Hellvig, both 22, who secured victory over Australia's Mark Nicolaidis and Izac Carracher. The pair play an aggressive style known as the "Swedish jump set". This adds an element of unpredictability to the attacking game. This tactic helped them win the second match of the day in straight sets in less than 40 minutes.

The women's competition kicked off later on Saturday with Asian Champions Xue Chen and Xia Xinyi of China facing Tokyo 2020 silver medallists Mariafe Artacho del Solar and Taliqua Clancy of Australia. Twenty-four teams will compete in both the men's and women's events before the field is whittled down to 16 for the knockout stages. The finals will take place on 9 and 10 August.