Paris 2024 is having one last party before hanging up its Phryges. Athletes, organizers, volunteers… Starting at 4 p.m. on Saturday, September 14, around 10,000 people will march in the Champions Parade on the Champs-Elysées and Place de l’Etoile, before turning the page on the Olympic and Paralympic Games with music until midnight. Among the medallists present will be the French rugby 7s team, the brothers Alexis and Félix Lebrun, and the French judokas, including Teddy Riner and Romane Dicko. Follow these festivities in our live coverage.
Medalists decorated with the Legion of Honor or the National Order of Merit. During a ceremony, Olympic and Paralympic medalists will receive the Legion of Honor or the National Order of Merit at the foot of the Arc de Triomphe in Paris, franceinfo learned on Friday from the Elysée and the Ministry of Sports. In total, 187 athletes will be decorated, 120 of whom will be present at the Champions Parade on Saturday.
A “best-of”, according to the director of ceremonies. “We will try to apply the same ingredients to this day as during the Games, with spectacular elements and also surprises,” said the dDirector of the Paris 2024 ceremonies, Thierry Reboul. “We released four albums [les quatre cérémonies d’ouverture et de clôture des Jeux olympiques et paralympiques]it’s time for the best-of”he added, when asked about the theme of this latest popular show. “We’re going to offer everything that we’ve seen and that people would like to see again one last time.”
Four thousand police and gendarmes mobilized. The public will be welcomed from 2 p.m. on the Champs-Elysées area. Gérald Darmanin, the resigning Minister of the Interior, announced that 4,000 police officers and gendarmes would be mobilized for this occasion. “A maximum gauge of 40,000 people has been set for the area surrounding the Place de l’Etoile, while it will be 30 000 spectators on the Champs-Elysées”said Thierry Reboul, the director of ceremonies for Paris 2024.