● From our sister site, TheSportsExaminer.com ●
The City of Paris gave one last salute to its heroes of the 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games with a parade under blue skies down the Champs-Elysees, ending at the Arc de Triomphe on Saturday.
A crowd estimated at 70,000 welcomed 139 French medal winners from both Games, including swimming hero Leon Marchand and iconic judoka Teddy Riner. Paris 2024 President Tony Estanguet, members of the organizing committee, volunteers and public-sector workers were also in the parade.
French President Emmanuel Macron, Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo and many other officials were present, with Macron bestowing the Legion d’Honneur or the National Order of Merit to 120 athletes on-site and 187 in all.
A concert with multiple artists from the Olympic and Paralympic ceremonies followed to signal an end to France’s summer of sport in a final event which was not part of the Games plan, but created to celebrate the amazing success of the events.
The parade started at 4 p.m., with the protocol elements from 6:30 to 8 and the concert from 9-11 p.m. It was broadcast live on national television with an audience estimated at more than 10 million.
The International Olympic Committee participated and awarded the Olympic Cup – inaugurated to honor communities and organizations which further the Movement – to the people of France. Said IOC President Thomas Bach (GER):
“This summer, you, the people of France truly took the Olympic Games to your hearts. You created an incomparable atmosphere in the streets of Paris and all over France. …
“You embraced the Olympic values. You fell in love with the Olympic Games, and we fell in love with all of you. Thank you, France!”
A new set of giant Olympic Rings was inaugurated at the Pont d’Iena, in front of the Eiffel Tower, as a new monument to the Games.
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Paris 2024 chief Estanguet told a news conference on Friday that a total of 12,132,647 tickets were sold for the Olympic and Paralympic Games combined, roughly 95% of capacity for both events.
The Olympic Games saw a record 9.56 million tickets sold, far surpassing the old high of 8.3 million for the Atlanta 1996 Games. The Paralympic Games, which had sold only about 40% of its tickets at the time the Olympics started, finished strong with 2.58 million sold, second only to London 2012.
Estanguet was asked what he would advise the 2028 Los Angeles organizers:
“The main message would be to be audacious and to build on the specificities and the strength of their territory.
“It’s up to them to define what is the main strength of LA 28 and to really be audacious.”
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NBC announced strong viewership of the Paralympic Games, with 15.4 million total viewers across the 12-day event, averaging 1.2 million per day on NBC and Peacock.
The 1.2 million daily average is up 31% over the Tokyo 2020 Paralympics (888,000). Live coverage daily on USA Network averaged 162,000, up 113% vs. NBC’s daytime cable coverage for Tokyo 2020.
The top U.S. markets for Paralympic viewing were New Orleans (1.69 rating), Ft. Myers (1.37) and Greenville-Spartanburg (1.34), followed by Indianapolis (1.24) and Pittsburgh and Louisville at 1.21.
~ Rich Perelman
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