Who will light the Olympic cauldron at the Opening Ceremony?

WASHINGTON — It's the Opening Ceremony for the Olympics, and the torch has almost made its way to the cauldron in the heart of Paris that will be lit to signify the start of the Games. 

The only question remaining: Who will actually light the cauldron? 

The answer to that question, as of a few hours before the festivities, is a mystery being closely guarded by French officials. In fact, the person picked to light it doesn't even know they've been chosen yet. 

Tony Estanguet, one of the Games' organizers, said Friday morning that only he knows “the personality or athlete” and that he still hadn't told that person.

“I plan to tell the last carrier today,” he said. “He or she doesn't know."

Who is lighting the Olympic cauldron in Paris?

Soccer icon Zinedine Zidane, who led France to World Cup ecstasy in 1998, is among guesses for who might light the Olympic cauldron. Another suggestion is that organizers might bestow that honor on survivors of the 2015 attacks by Islamic State-group gunmen and suicide bombers who killed 130 people in and around Paris.

Lighting the Olympic cauldron is one of the highest ceremonial honors the host nation can bestow on somebody. Traditionally, the person has been a national figure of great importance, such as Muhammad Ali or Steve Nash. 

Whoever lights the cauldron in Paris will be the final torch bearer out of about 10,000 who carried it for part of the months-long journey from Greece to Paris. Some of those runners include a paraplegic athlete using a robot exoskeleton to walk and rapper Snoop Dogg. 

The Opening Ceremony in Paris is set to be one of the most unique in Olympic history. Instead of the traditional march, athletes will ride boats down the River Seine, while tens of thousands of people crowd the banks of the river that winds through the heart of Paris.