Heartbreaking reason why Olympics team threw roses in River Seine at opening ceremony

The Olympics opening ceremony was certainly spectacular, with everything from Lady Gaga performing Zizi Jeanmaire’s ‘Mon Truc en Plumes’ amid a gaggle of dancers sporting hot pink peacock feathers to a semi-naked man painted head-to-toe in blue paint to depict Greek god of wine Dionysus.

Then, of course, we had Celine Dion belting out Edith Piaf classic ‘L'Hymne à l'Amour’ from the Eiffel Tower, marking her first performance in four years after a diagnosis of debilitating condition Stiff Person Syndrome.

We also had the stunning display of competing countries’ teams making their entrance to the games via boats, waving at the crowds as they floated down the River Seine.

When it came to the Algerian team’s turn to sail past fans, many people noticed that athletes were holding red roses.

They then tossed them into the river, as some of the group chanted ‘Long live Algeria’ in Arabic.

It turns out this was actually a poignant tribute to a particularly dark period in the nation’s history - one that has devastating links to the famous Parisian river.

Back in October 1961, some 120 protestors died during a demonstration in support of independence from France, which was Algeria’s colonial ruler at the time.

Some of the people had been thrown in to the Seine by police, who arrested around 12,000.

Among those killed was Kaci Yahia, an Algerian worker for the Paris sewage system, whose body was never recovered.

His 28-year-old grandson was watching the opening ceremony from Algeria, praising the commemoration for those like his grandfather.

“To make such a gesture, the day of the opening of the Olympics in Paris, is a monumental homage to the victims of Oct. 17,” he said.

“It’s a moment of immense emotion,” he said.

While the massacre was covered up by French authorities for decades, President Emmanuel Macron recently condemned the deathly crackdown as an ‘unforgiveable crime’.

As he took part in a 2021 memorial for those killed – laying a wreath in memory of the victims – an accompanying statement from the Elysée said Macron ‘recognised the facts: that the crimes committed that night under Maurice Papon are inexcusable for the Republic'.

"This tragedy was long hushed-up, denied or concealed," the statement added.