France hosts a farewell celebration: There were 460 Olympics and Paralympians in the Parade of Champions, 120 of whom were medal winners in Paris. Besides numerous volunteers, representatives from both the Olympics and Olympics were there.
After the nation hosted one more party to commemorate both the Olympic and Paralympic Games, Paris’ feel-good summertime came to an end on Saturday with a big parade with French sportsmen on the Champs Elysees.
460 Olympics and Paralympics athletes, including 120 medalists from Paris, participated in the Parade of Champions. Along the path of the procession, which finished on a stage constructed like a ring surrounding the iconic Triumphal Arch monument in the French capital, roughly 70,000 individuals lined up. There were also hundreds of workers for the Games, delegates from the Olympics and the Paralympic, and municipal leaders.
France hosts a farewell celebration on Champs Elysees:
The spectacular and daring opening and closing ceremonies of the July 26–August 11 Olympics and the August 28–September 8 Paralympic festivities were matched by the organizers’ celebration of French sport.
The director of ceremonies, Thierry Reboul, told French reporters, “We call it the fifth ceremony among us.” “Surprise, emotion, and sharing are the elements we tried to incorporate into this show, just as we did with the four ceremonies this summer.”
Attendees included Michel Barnier, the next prime minister, and President Emmanuel Macron. Macron honored 120 French Olympians who had won medals in Paris during the ceremony, including Teddy Riner and Leon Marchand, two of the country’s top judokas and swimmers. 187 French athletes received the National Order of Merit or the Legion of Honor on Saturday, however not all of them took part in the procession.
Macron celebrated the Olympic spirit, saying it has created “national harmony,” but this was in the midst of a very divided country and a hard political reality after the July parliamentary elections, which were held just before the commencement of the Paris Games, produced no clear winner.
