The Olympic Rings on the Eiffel Tower is shown in Paris, July 22. Korea Times Photo by Shim Hyun-Chul

Long known as the capital of arts and culture, Paris will transform itself into the capital of sports over the next 17 days as the host of the 33rd Summer Olympics.

The opening ceremony for the first Summer Games in Paris in 100 years is scheduled to begin at 7:30 p.m. Friday local time, or 2:30 a.m. Saturday in Korea.

It will be the first opening ceremony in Summer Olympics history to take place outside a stadium. Instead of their customary march on a track, thousands of athletes will be sailing down a 6-kilometer route on the iconic Seine River on over 90 boats and barges.

Organizers decided to move the ceremony into the heart of their city in keeping with the competition's motto, "Games Wide Open." The show will feature performances highlighting France's cultural diversity and Olympic values.

Korea has sent 143 athletes in 21 out of 32 sports. Having missed out on several team sports, including football, volleyball and basketball for both men and women, Korea has assembled its smallest Summer Olympics delegation since 1976.

The Korean Sport & Olympic Committee has set a modest target of winning five gold medals, which would be the smallest gold medal tally in 48 years, but Team Korea enjoyed an encouraging start to the competition Thursday.

In the women's ranking round, Lim Si-hyeon set a world record with 694 out of a possible 720 points en route to earning the top seed in the individual event. Lim and her two teammates, Nam Su-hyeon and Jeon Hun-young, combined for an Olympic record score of 2,046 points. Korea earned the top seed for the women's team event and a bye to the quarterfinals.

Kim Woo-jin won the men's ranking round, and Kim, Kim Je-deok and Lee Woo-seok put Korea on top of the men's team rankings, too.

Korea is taking aim at winning three out of five archery gold medals at stake.

Also Thursday, Korea held off Germany 23-22 to open the women's handball tournament, after overcoming a four-goal deficit in the second half.

Korea has won a gold medal on the first day after the opening ceremony at each of the past four Summer Olympics. Freestyle swimmer Kim Woo-min will be among those looking to extend the streak Saturday.

The Paris Olympics will conclude on Aug. 11. (Yonhap)