Paris 2024 Games: Party's not over yet, time is now for the Parade des Champions on the Champs-Élysées
On Saturday 14 September, a very last meeting will happen for everyone who love the Games. On the Champs-Élysées, the Olympic and Paralympic athletes - and everyone involved for Paris 2024 - will march together for a final moment of sharing. Make way for Paris 2024's final celebration of the Games, open to the public free of charge and subject to registration.
The Avenue des Champs-Élysées will be the place to be for the final act of the Paris 2024 Games. On Saturday 14 September, from 4pm to 6.30pm, thousands of people will parade down the most beautiful avenue in the world, for an exceptional Parade des Champions. Olympic and Paralympic athletes, Games organisers, partners and volunteers will march down the Champs-Élysées in a long procession from the bottom of the avenue to the top. This event will be an opportunity to share with everyone the excitement of all those who have contributed to the success of the Paris 2024 Games. Athletes, employees, partners, volunteers, representatives of the sports movement in France, the 8,000 to 10,000 marchers all deserve our thanks.
‘We're going to try to apply the same ingredients to this day as we did for the four ceremonies, which means surprise, spectacular elements and perhaps above all sharing, as we tried to do for the first four. Or even the first five, since we're including Marseille [at the arrival of the Olympic Flame] with the same type of approach as we'll be trying to do on Saturday,‘ Thierry Reboul, Paris 2024’s Director of Ceremonies, explains.
All the French medallists will be decorated
Once the parade is over, everyone will gather around the Arc de Triomphe for a symbolic ceremony of decorating the Olympic and Paralympic medallists. From 6.30pm to 8pm, the President of the French Republic will present each medallist from Paris 2024 and give them a Republican decoration. He will be accompanied by former Olympic and Paralympic medallists. As we know now, 182 Olympic athletes will take part - 78 of them have won medals, including Teddy Riner, the French Rugby sevens team, Léon Marchand, Manon Apithy-Brunet and the Lebrun brothers. At least 137 Paralympic athletes, including 50 medallists, are expected to be also there with Timothée Adolphe and Sandrine Martinet for example.
The ceremony will also see the rekindling of the flame of the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. It's sure to be a very moving moment.
A giant concert to end on a musical note
The Parade des Champions will conclude with a third and final musical highlight. A giant free concert will be held, from 9pm, on the Place de l'Étoile, which will be transformed into a giant dance hall for the occasion. Finally, a DJ set will take place from the Arc de Triomphe from 11pm to midnight. All the ingredients are therefore in place for one last great collective moment that is sure to remain engraved in the memories of Generation 2024.
‘We proposed changing the traditional playing field, because usually, the Parade des Champions takes place on the Champs-Élysées and exclusively on the Champs-Élysées. What we proposed was that the epicentre of this event should be the Place de l'Étoile, where we would host the decorations and the show at the heart of a never-before-seen scenography involving the construction of a huge round stage. It's a ring with a perimeter of 400 metres that will surround the Arc de Triomphe and that will allow us to face the public at 360° wherever they are and to offer a whole series of elements and events at 360°’, he continues.
Viewers will be able to watch an artistic best-of there, featuring the best of the four ceremonies in a single video, with priority given to musical performances.
On another note, the official musical theme of Paris 2024, ‘Parade’ by Victor Le Masne, will be officially shared on streaming platforms from Friday 13 September. A great opportunity for nostalgic fans to listen again and again to the sound that has been echoing in everyone's heads over the last few months.
Registration required
This event will be free to follow, but you will first need to register on the dedicated platform. You will have two choices: follow the sequence organised on the Champs-Élysées (parade) or follow the sequences (decorations + concert) organised on the Place de l'Etoile. For full details, visit http://parade.paris2024.org/
The public - a capacity of 40,000 people on the Place de l'Etoile and 30,000 at the top of the Champs-Élysées - will be welcomed at 2pm on the Avenue des Champs-Élysées. The ceremony will also be broadcast live on France Télévisions.