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PARIS: French athletes returned home from Paris on Monday, bidding a reluctant farewell to a “fascinating” two-week Olympics they hailed as a spectacular event that breathed new life into the biggest spectacle on earth.
Hollywood star Tom Cruise rappelled into the National Stadium during Sunday night’s closing ceremony, brightening the audience and sounding the alarm for the next Los Angeles Olympics.
The Mission: Impossible star descended from a tightrope in front of 71,500 spectators, clutching an Olympic flag and hopping onto a motorbike to the delight of thousands of dancing athletes and awestruck fans.
The closing ceremony of the Paris Olympics brought relief that an event that had feared terror attacks, strikes or protests ended with little drama, but also sadness that two weeks of enthusiastic celebrations had come to an end.
L’Equipe, France’s largest sports newspaper, urged “Keep the torch burning” in a front-page headline and published a report on new national swimming hero Leon Marchand, calling on the French people to maintain the spirit of “these fascinating two weeks.”
In the Olympic Village north of Paris, bleary-eyed athletes were packing their bags after a tiring night, as the French capital’s two main airports prepared for an influx of passengers and sports equipment.
Paris 2024 Olympic Games – Ceremony – Paris 2024 Closing Ceremony – Stade de France, Saint-Denis, France – August 12, 2024. Athletes pose with the Olympic rings during the Closing Ceremony REUTERS/Gonzalo Fuentes TPX Daily Photo
Magda Skarbonkiewicz, a fencer on the U.S. team, said she will return home filled with memories of competing at the Grand Palais, one of the historic venues around the French capital.
“It’s an iconic venue, and I’ve never seen anything like it before,” she said. “It’s amazing to see so many people care about fencing as much as the French do.”
“ITS-Country”
At the closing ceremony on Sunday night, International Olympic Committee President Thomas Bach emphasized the core message of the Olympics, “peace and cooperation,” praising the Paris Olympics as “the highest level in the world of sport.”
“These Games have been thrilling from beginning to end,” Bach said. “Or dare I say: the Seine Olympics,” the IOC president quipped, using a pun in reference to the Seine River that flows through Paris and has sometimes been the fickle star of the Games.
Following the corruption scandals at the 2016 Tokyo and Rio de Janeiro Olympics, observers believe that the 2024 Paris Olympics are crucial to the entire Olympic brand.
Around 9,000 athletes packed into the Stade de France on Sunday night for a show featuring French electronic band Air, guitar band Phoenix, Belgian singer Angèle and Cambodian rapper VannDa.
“We knew you were going to be great, but you were amazing,” Tony Estanguet, the head of organizing the Paris 2024 Winter Olympics, told the crowd in a triumphant speech. He said the Olympics had transformed “a country that always complained” into “a country of unfettered supporters that didn’t want to stop singing.”
Much of the media commentary focused on the uplifting effect the Olympics had on the generally depressed national mood.
Just weeks before the Olympics, French President Emmanuel Macron called a snap election that resulted in a hung parliament in France, with the far-right National Rally party winning a historic number of seats.
An editorial in Le Monde said: “The Paris Olympics brought more than two weeks of enthusiasm and joy to Paris and the whole country, which was unexpected and appreciated, as it came after a political period dominated by decline and xenophobia.”
Sports writer Owen Slote wrote in The Times: “In 17 days, the stereotype of the French as aloof and ill-tempered disappeared”, adding that “Paris made the Olympics look more beautiful than ever before”.
PARIS 2024 OLYMPIC GAMES – CEREMONY – PARIS 2024 CLOSING CEREMONY – STADE FRANCISCO, SAINT DENISE, FRANCE – AUGUST 11, 2024. Actor Tom Cruise jumps from the roof of the Stade de France during the Closing Ceremony. REUTERS/Phil Noble
Next stop: Los Angeles
The closing ceremony marked the start of the four-year countdown to the Los Angeles Olympics, with American gymnastics icon Simone Biles and Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass officially handing over the Olympic flag.
The 17 days following the opening ceremony were filled with sporting drama, with Biles, American sprinter Noah Lyles, Pakistan’s javelin king Arshad Nadeem and Turkish shooter Yusuf Dikeç, who became an Internet sensation, all gracing the opening ceremony.
They also reported on the gender controversy surrounding two female boxers, Imani Khelif of Algeria and Yu-Ting Lin of Taiwan, who both went on to win gold medals.
On the final day of competition, the U.S. women’s basketball team narrowly defeated France 67-66 to win the last gold medal of this Olympics. The U.S. team surpassed China and won the medal championship.
The win was the eighth straight Olympic title for the U.S. women’s basketball team, securing a tie with China at 40 gold medals.
However, the United States team eventually topped the medal table with 126 medals, and the Chinese team ranked second with 91 medals.
— AFP
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