A participant strikes a pose in celebration of the beginning of the games on Aug. 4.

Paris welcomed participants from some countries where homosexuality is illegal or repressed.

Fifty-eight athletes are from Russia, which in 2013 passed a law banning “propaganda for non-traditional sexual relations.” One athlete holds a passport from Saudi Arabia, where homosexuality is punishable by death.

Egypt and other Muslim countries — where gays have been arrested and sent to jail — will also be represented in one of the 36 sporting disciplines, spanning from soccer to sailing.