PARIS: France bid a final and reluctant farewell to the Paris Olympics on Saturday with a parade on the Champs-Elysees followed by a concert featuring artists from the opening and closing ceremonies.

The final event of an acclaimed summer of sport saw tens of thousands of fans gather on the French capital’s most famous avenue where President Emmanuel Macron is set to decorate many of the medal winners with the country’s top civilian awards.

Around 4,000 police were called out for a final test, having won almost almost unanimous praise for the way they kept the Games and their 12 million spectators safe during the Olympics and Paralympics.

Around 70,000 people claimed free tickets for Saturday’s event in a matter of hours, with the parade of athletes, volunteers and public sector workers set to be followed by a multi-artist concert on a 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 gold triple gold medallist told reporters as she arrived.

After months of gloom and self-doubt in the run-up to the start of the Olympics on July 26, Paris and the country at large threw themselves into the spirit of the Games.

They embraced new national sporting heroes such as triple gold medal-winning swimmer Leon Marchand while finding fresh reasons to celebrate veterans such as judoka Teddy Riner who won his fourth Olympic title.

“Thank you, thank you, it’s been incredible!” Riner shouted to the cheering crowd.

The French team finished with a record medals haul of 64, including 16 golds, securing fifth place on the international table.

The Paralympic Games from August 28-September 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 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,” the head of the French Olympic Committee, David Lappartient, told reporters.

France’s embattled president 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 Olympics organisers.

The vote resulted in a hung parliament and historic gains for the far-right National Rally party.

“We need to respond to this spirit of the Games, of this national harmony that was expressed,” Macron told the Parisien newspaper on Friday.

He was the main instigator of Saturday’s event, which was not originally part of the Olympic or Paralympic programme.

The centrist leader has also announced his intention to create an Olympics-inspired “national day of sport” every year on September 14.

“We need to spend time together at a day of sport, which would take place in the street, schools, in dedicated sports centres,” he said.

Published in Dawn, September 15th, 2024