Paris bid farewell to the 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games this weekend with a giant parade, medal ceremony and open-air concert attended by tens of thousands of spectators, as well as volunteers and athletes.
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Paris closes out its Olympic summer with dazzling Champions Parade
For organizers, it was an opportunity to “finish this adventure in the most beautiful way,” Tony Estanguet, head of the Paris 2024 organizing committee, told journalists Friday.
“Pride of a Nation,” Macron tweeted late Saturday alongside a picture of the athletes onstage in front of the Arc de Triomphe. France finished in fifth in the medal count at the Olympics, with 16 golds and 64 total medals, and was eighth at the Paralympic Games with 19 golds and 75 total medals.
The event attracted huge attention in France, where talk of “withdrawal” after weeks of Olympic and Paralympic buzz has already started. The mayor of Paris has even pushed to keep the Olympic rings on the Eiffel Tower.
All 70,000 tickets available for the Champions Parade were snapped up within one hour, according to French media outlets. Even the Phryge — the mascot of the Paris Olympics — turned up at the parade and gave a performance.
More than 180 athletes took part in the ceremony, according to organizers, including stars from the 2024 Games such as swimmer Léon Marchand, judoka Teddy Riner and fencer Manon Apithy-Brunet.
Other standout moments included the jets of the Patrouille de France aerobatics unit flying over the gathering and leaving behind the colors of the French flag in the sky while the anthem of the Paris Games played.
Later in the evening, the plaza surrounding the Arc de Triomphe turned into a giant dance floor during a free concert, with performances by various artists and a DJ playing until midnight.