The Paris Paralympics came to a close with a glittering closing ceremony on Sunday. Starting off the ceremony, French singer Santa performed Johnny Hallyday’s iconic track “Vivre pour le Meilleur”. Several video sequences and images from the previous three Paralympic Games accompanied her melodic voice.
However, the couldron flight was not happening due to weather conditions. Following this performance, in the official stand at the Stade de France, France president Emmanuel Macron, and the President of the International Paralympic Committee (IPC), Andrew Parsons, were introduced.
The French flag was then raised to the sounds of the country’s national anthem, The Marseillaise. The crowd sang along to the national anthem as various corps of the French Army raised the flag.
After that happened the Parade of Nations, involving all the countries that participated in the Paralympics. The countries entered the enclosure in alphabetical order to the sounds of band of Republican Guard. The musicians performed some selected French and international pop music, giving a festive and joyous vibe to the parade.
Harvinder Singh and Preeti Pal were the flag bearers for India at the closing ceremony of the Paris Paralympics 2024. Harvinder Singh, who made history by clinching the gold medal in para-archery, India’s first-ever gold in para-archery, and Preeti Pal, a standout in para-athletes with two bronze medals, have been instrumental in India’s extraordinary success at these Games.
The Indian contingent concluded its historic Paris Paralympics campaign with a total of 29 medals, including seven gold, nine silver, and 13 bronze medals, the most by the country in the history of the competition. With this landmark campaign, India has surpassed their previously most-successful campaign at the Tokyo 2020 Paralympics, which gave them 19 medals, including five golds, eight silvers, and six bronze medals.
Tony Estanguet, President of the Organising Committee for the Paris 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games, entered the stage after the parade to a huge cheer from the crowd and addressed them.
Parsons also delivered a speech on the success of the event. The continuation of the ceremony saw the presentation of new newly elected members of the International Paralympics Committee Athletes Council, a group of athlete representatives elected by their peers who are the voice of the Paralympic athlete community to the IPC.
Following this, the Paris 2024 volunteers were thanked and were given a tribute. Over 2,000 of them took centre stage at the stadium and were met with massive cheers from the crowd. Then, eight dancers, some specially-abled, celebrated the diversity of Breaking with their performances to beats by DJ Cut Killer.
The Paralympic Anthem was played and the Paralympic flag was lowered by the officers of French Army. The Mayor of Paris, Anne Hidalgo, and the Mayor of Los Angeles, Karen Bass, join Andrew Parsons and Tony Estanguet on the stage and the flag was handed over to Karen.
The handover and transition to USA for next Paralympics continued with the American national anthem and raising of their national flag. Ali Stroker, the American singer and actress sang the national anthem.
Violinist and Broadway composer Gaelynn Lea and rapper, songwriter and athlete Garnet Silver-Hall performed poetry linking to the themes of dreaming, disability, and community. Also, multi-time Grammy award winning rapper and singer Anderson Paak also delivered a delightful performance.
At the Jardin des Tuileries, gathered around the cauldron, Amadou and Mariam, accompanied by a string quartet, performed a composition by Serge Gainsbourg inspired by the French poet Paul Verlaine, titled ‘Je suis venu te dire que je m’en vais’.
Aurellie Aubert, the French Paralympic champion in Boccia, blew the flame and in the skies above the Jardin des Tuileries, the Cauldron, was also extinguished, marking the end of the games.
At the Stade de France, 24 electronic music artists from French electronic scene, along with the ‘Father of Electronic Music in France’, Jean-Michel Jarre, celebrated the diversity of their music with an entertaining performance. The performance also involved some Paralympic athletes joining in and the stadium transformed into one big disco. There was also a beautiful light show to go along with the performance.
Among the artists who performed were Breakbot & Irfane, Nathalie Duchene, Alan Braxe, DJ Falcon, Kavinsky, Kiddy Smile, Kittin, Anetha, Ofenbach, The Avener, etc. The closing performance was finally delivered by two-time medalist and French para-cyclist Alexandre Leaute along with Martin Solveig, a French DJ and songwriter. (ANI)
