2024-09-18 18:23:54
French President Emmanuel Macron and his nominated Prime Minister Michel Barnier attended the Parade of Champions in the center of Paris yesterday evening, France Press reported, quoted by BTA. It ended a successful Parisian summer in terms of Olympic events.
During the parade, the athletes honored at the Olympic and Paralympic Games marched down the Champs-Elysées avenue, under the gaze of tens of thousands of people carrying the French flags and the mascot of the Olympics.
The parade was attended by 300 athletes, nearly 10,000 volunteers and staff who contributed to the smooth running of the Summer Games, members of the organizing committee and other officials. Finally, on a stage in the square with the Arc de Triomphe, the president awarded the athletes who distinguished themselves at the Games.
The parade began at dawn with the colors of the French flag. The Air Patrol of the French Air Force also put on an amazing show in the skies of the French capital.
The ceremony for awarding the athletes ended with a performance of “Marseillaise” by the soprano Axel de Saint-Cyrel, who also sang at the opening of the Olympic Games on July 26.
Afterwards there was a great concert, and the Olympic altar was illuminated with the colors of the French flag. During the concert, recordings of iconic performances from the Olympic and Paralympic Games ceremonies, such as Celine Dion’s, were broadcast. They were projected onto the Arc de Triomphe. Finally there was a DJ party.
The parade of champions was marked by a spirit of understanding in contrast to politics in France, marked by three months of division and controversy.
Yesterday, while Macron proposed a national sports holiday on September 14 every year, far-right leader Marine Le Pen called for early elections next year, showing the country’s political passions have not subsided with the nomination of Michel Barnier as prime minister.