Paris bids farewell to Olympic Games, hands baton to Los Angeles

In true Hollywood style, Paris closed last night with a beautiful ceremony futuristic style Olympic Gameswho will go down in history for their ambition and for turning the city into a monumental open-air stadium.

The closing ceremony, held at the Stade de France in the presence of 9,000 athletes and members of the technical staff, and with more than 71,500 spectators in the stands, was an opportunity for the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to pass the baton to Los Angeles 2028.

The ceremony began in the Tuileries gardens, at the foot of the cauldron, where singer Zaho de Sagazan sang ‘Sous le ciel de Paris’, the most emotional song about the spirit of the city, made famous by figures such as Édith Piaf and Yves Montand.

Then came the French hero of these Games, the swimmer Leon Marchandwinner of four gold and one bronze, to symbolically cauldron fire and take him to the stadium.

But before heading towards the Hollywood show that many people expect in four years, this Closing of Paris 2024 offered a pop and electronic music concert thanks to the fusion of the band Phoenix with artists such as Kavinsky, Angèle, Air and VannDa, among others.

International Olympic Committee President Thomas Bach declared that Paris 2024 “has been the first Olympic Games of a new era” and stressed that Olympic athletes have “made the City of Light shine like never before.”

After Bach’s speech, Anne Hidalgo, mayor of Paris, presented the Olympic flag to Karen Bass, mayor of Los Angeles, as a symbol of the relocation of the location for the next Olympic Games.

From there the most cinematic part began. Popular American actor Tom Cross He descended from the top of the stadium to the podium by cable, grabbed the Olympic rings flag and took off on a motorbike, all before jumping out of a plane to the beat of the Red Hot Chili Peppers and their song ‘By the Way’.

Finally, the Olympic flame that had arrived in a lamp from the Tuileries was extinguished and Bach, “with a heart full of emotion”, officially declared the 2024 Paris Olympics closed and called on the Olympic world to gather in Los Angeles in four years’ time.

The ceremony ended with a French nod to the United States, but at the same time a display of self-pride: French singer Yseult sang the unforgettable ‘My way’.

“An organizational, safety, sporting and popular success”

For his part, French President Emmanuel Macron thanked all those involved in the Paris Olympics for their work on Monday, which he considered “an organizational, security, sporting and popular success.”

During a gratitude ceremony organized in the gardens of the Elysee Palace, Macron did not lack superlatives to describe what happened during the Olympic Games that took place between July 26 and August 11.

“We’ll see who will make games like this,” he said in a tone of pride and defiance, after insisting that “this all ended last night, but there will be a legacy.”

In this context, he stressed that “we have made the Olympic Games sustainable and “equal”, and it will remain so.

He stressed that thanks to the Olympic event and investments of 1.4 billion euros, the river Seine, which runs through Paris, has been cleaned up, as well as the Marne, in which it will be possible to swim in the future, as is already the case. Some athletes have done it for competitions.