With a glittering ceremony at Stade de France, Paris 2024 Olympic Games came to an end on Sunday
After two weeks of exceptional and intense competitions, including some that raised controversies around the world, the Olympic Games Paris 2024 came to an end on Sunday evening, with yet another creative show to mark the closing ceremony.
The closing ceremony was held at Stade de France, the largest stadium in France, located in Greater Paris region. In the midst of darkness, a show entitled Records, created by Thomas Jolly for the Closing Ceremony, highlighted the importance of the Olympic Games for the whole world.
According to a press statement by the Organising Committee of Paris 2024, on the occasion, the athletes, the true heroes of the competitions, gathered at the Stade de France to be celebrated by the public one last time. At the end of the night, the Olympic Flame of Paris 2024 was extinguished, closing this unprecedented chapter in Olympic history, before it shines again in 2028, in Los Angeles in California.
The organisers say that during the two weeks of the Games, Paris 2024 achieved several key landmarks across various parameters. They say that more than 9.5 million tickets for the Olympic Games were purchased by spectators from 222 different countries, adding that while 62 pc tickets were bought by the French, the remaining 38 pc were international buyers.
The top five foreign nationalities in terms of buyers were the United Kingdom, the United States, Germany, Belgium and the Netherlands.
The fortnight-long Paris 2024 Games saw the organisation of 760 sessions in 32 Olympic sports, with almost 850 medals at stake that were won by athletes and sportspersons from 85 medal-winning countries. In the course of the Games, 42 records were broken, of which 10 were new world records, while 32 Olympic records were created at the Paris 2024 Games.
Tony Estanguet
“Since Day 1 of the Paris 2024 journey, on June 23, 2015, we have been preparing for everything (…) But we weren’t ready for that. There is no way we could have prepared for everything we have just experienced together,’’ says Tony Estanguet, President of Paris 2024 Organising Committee.
“France has showed up. Tonight, I have never felt so proud to be French. Together, we have shown the world the most beautiful face of France,’’ he said and invited all to attend the Paralympic Games that begin just over two weeks in France.
“All of you who love the Games in France and around the world, I invite you, on August 28, in the stands, in the fan zones, in front of your screens, to the best return leg of your lives,’’ he added.