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With 28 degrees in the evening and a light breeze, this closing ceremony of the 33rd Olympic Games felt like a huge late-night garden party. Anyone who was upset about the woke opening ceremony should be reconciled with the Olympic world, because this time there was something for everyone. Joe Dassin’s chanson “Les Champs-Élysée” to sing along to and Hollywood star Tom Cruise flying from the roof of the Stade de France into the ecstatic crowd of athletes and then getting on a motorbike to fly away with the Olympic flag, roll into a jet and take off towards Los Angeles.
France’s young star Zaho de Sagazan opened the ceremony in the Tuileries in a tender, poetic way with Piaf’s song “Sous le ciel de Paris”. She picked up the thread of the closing ceremony exactly where the opening ceremony ended. The 24-year-old has as many “Victoire de la Musique”, France’s most prestigious music award, as Léon Marchand has gold medals. Whether she is performing at the opening ceremony of the Cannes Film Festival or at the closing ceremony of the Olympic Games, she does it like a real athlete, completely focused on the performance.
Swimmer Aubrey Kwon from the USA watches the fireworks at the closing ceremony
Source: dpa/Ashley Landis
When France’s new national hero Léon Marchand ran towards the Olympic flame in the Tuileries, one briefly had the feeling that the man had no feet, but rather flippers stuck in shoes; in any case, he was more confident in the water than on land. Unusually, Marchand was not wearing swimming trunks, which is how we have come to know and love him over the last two weeks, but a black suit that looked as if he had not taken it out of the closet since his confirmation.
But a hero can wear whatever he wants. When Léon walked into the Stade de France with the flame at the end of the celebration, the crowd chanted his first name. He is known as a “Marchand de rêve”, a man who makes you dream.
Actors at the closing ceremony in front of a backdrop reminiscent of Star Wars
Source: dpa/Jan Woitas
Director Thomas Jolly used a stage reminiscent of the Death Star from Star Wars. We understood that he had brought the Olympic idea to another planet, where aliens immediately took up the cause. The idea of peace and brotherhood, of mutual respect while simultaneously competing in a test of strength, is simply unbeatable. The aliens lifted gymnastic wheels into the sky and turned them into Olympic rings, which certainly helped the old gymnastic equipment to regain its popularity.
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Up there, too, the Swiss pianist Alain Roche floated into the sky, hanging from a seemingly burning grand piano, and played vertically. Air and Phoenix performed, a tribute to “ze” French touch, the French electronic music that conquered the world in the 90s. But Jolly lost control at some point. The director had no chance against the enthusiastic athletes. They stormed the stage and did not let themselves be dissuaded from their plan, even by the urgent requests of the stadium announcer – “Mesdames et Monsieurs les athlètes”.
Alain Roche plays the piano upside down
Source: AP/Martin Meissner
The joyful chaos that historian and consultant Patrick Boucheron had promised for the opening ceremony in an interview with WELT was invited into the Stade de France that evening after 19 days of high performance, tears of joy, effort, injuries, bitter disappointments and great emotions. All tension seemed to fall away that evening, from the athletes, the organizers, from France’s president and the mayor of Paris.
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Thomas Bach, President of the CIO, coined a word that will probably never make it into the dictionary: these games were “Seine-sationnel”. It is true that Paris provided the unbeatable stage for a fabulous, unforgettable festival of sport. “You fell in love with the Olympic Games and we fell in love with you,” said Bach.
Fireworks over the Stade de la France
Source: dpa/Sebastian Kahnert
Speaking of love, Tony Estanguet, president of the Paris Organizing Committee, was visibly happy that the record for marriage proposals was broken during the Paris Games. This fits the narrative perfectly, of course, even if gold medalist Oliver Zeidler could not yet bring himself to propose to his girlfriend on the Eiffel Tower.
The French athlete Alice Finot, who only came in fourth but broke the European record in the 3000 meter steeplechase, stormed towards her Spanish boyfriend, fell to her knees in front of him and handed him a pin with the inscription “El amor está en Paris”. Love is in Paris. Where else?
Athletes stand on stage during the performance of the band Phoenix
Source: dpa/Jan Woitas
When the charming Estanguet raved about love, in the middle of the Stade de France and in front of the eyes of the world, the question popped into his mind as to whether he could become France’s Prime Minister, who has been absent since the elections in June? In any case, the former canoeist has achieved the greatest feat. Estangiuet has succeeded in reconciling the French with himself.
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As the evening progressed, many athletes lay on the black stadium floor, sprinkled with white scraps of paper like snowflakes, and looked up at the sky above Paris and the fireworks that were lit from the roof of the Stade de France. When the American singer HER was accompanied by a guitarist with round sunglasses and a white guitar during the American national anthem, happiness was complete. The only thing missing for the Woodstock feeling was the rain at the opening ceremony.
Woodstock feeling with US singer HER
Source: AFP/FRANCK FIFE
When IOC chief Bach uttered the more terrible sentence, “I declare the 33rd Olympiad over,” a sigh went through the stadium. The French, wearing striped sailor shirts, roosters on their heads or red Phrygian caps, fell into each other’s arms. The Japanese were inspired, the Chinese had never heard such loud music. Paris is a celebration. But now it’s over. And maybe that’s a good thing.
