France bids final farewell to Olympics with Champs-Elysees parade
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French athletes who took part in the 2024 Olympics and Paralympics parade along a catwalk on Paris' Champs-Elysees avenue, on Sept 14.
PHOTO: REUTERS
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PARIS – France bid a final and reluctant farewell to the Paris Olympics on Sept 14 with a parade on the Champs-Elysees, followed by a concert featuring artistes from the opening and closing ceremonies.
The final event of an acclaimed summer of sport saw tens of thousands of fans come together on the French capital’s most famous avenue to applaud and cheer the nation’s new sporting heroes.
Around 70,000 people gathered for the parade featuring athletes, volunteers and public-sector workers, which was followed by a multi-artiste concert on a spectacular stage around the Arc de Triomphe.
“Saying thanks, not just to the athletes but to everyone who made these games magic, I think it’s fabulous,” said France’s most-decorated track athlete, Marie-Jose Perec, who lit the cauldron at the start of the Games on July 26.
“It’s a beautiful way of saying goodbye because everything must come to an end and tonight it will all be over,” the visibly emotional 200m and 400m triple gold medallist told reporters as she arrived.
Around 4,000 police were called out for a final test, having won almost unanimous praise for the way they kept around 12 million ticket holders for the Olympics and Paralympics safe.
During the Games, Parisians embraced new champions such as four-gold swimmer Leon Marchand while finding fresh reasons to celebrate veterans such as judoka Teddy Riner, who has now amassed five Olympic gold medals.
“Thank you, thank you, it’s been incredible!” Riner shouted to the cheering crowd on Sept 14.
He, Marchand and rugby sevens star Antoine Dupont were among more than 100 French medal winners who were awarded the Legion d’Honneur, France’s highest civilian award, in a ceremony at the foot of the Arc de Triomphe led by French President Emmanuel Macron.
The French team finished the Olympics with a record medal haul of 64, including 16 golds, securing fifth place in the table.
The Paralympic Games from Aug 28 to Sept 8 were hailed as “the most spectacular ever” by the head of the International Paralympic Committee, Andrew Parsons.
Analysts say the Games served as a form of escapism for many French people worried about the political direction of the country, as well as generating a rare form of national union and pride.
“Everything worked, everything functioned and French people rediscovered the virtues of national cohesion,” said the head of the French Olympic Committee, David Lappartient.
Volunteers pose in Olympic ring sunglasses as they take part in a parade of French athletes who competed in the Paris Olympic and Paralympic Games, on Paris' Champs-Elysees avenue.
PHOTO: AFP
Mr Macron is seeking to take advantage of this more positive mood, having faced widespread criticism for his decision to call snap parliamentary elections in June, which blindsided Paris 2024 organisers.
Instead of making a speech, he recorded a poetic voice-over over images of the Olympics and Paralympics, saying it was “a summer that had already become part of French sporting legend”.
The 46-year-old was the main instigator of the Sept 14 event, which was not originally part of the Olympic or Paralympic programme.
French athletes who competed in the Paris 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games parade on Paris’ Champs-Elysees avenue.
PHOTO: AFP
He has also announced his intention to create an Olympics-inspired “national day of sport” every year on Sept 14.
“We need to spend time together at a day of sport, which would take place in the streets, schools, in dedicated sports centres,” he told the Parisien.
The concert during the night featured singer Chris, formerly of Christine and the Queens, who performed at the Paralympics opening ceremony, as well as blind Malian duo Amadou & Mariam, among others. AFP
Smoke in the colours of the French national flag rises near Paris’ Arc de Triomphe, on the day of a parade for all the French athletes who took part in the 2024 Olympics and Paralympics.
PHOTO: EPA-EFE
