France bids farewell to Paris Games in grand ceremony

PARIS:

France bid farewell to Paris 2024 with the Champions Parade on Saturday afternoon as the French Olympics and Paralympics medallists gathered along with the volunteers who made the games possible.

The Parade was organised on President Emmanuel Macron's request while the program included a street party from the parade of champions down the Champs-Elysées to Place de l'Etoile.

There was also the rekindling of the flame at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier and an award ceremony at Champs Elysee with a reigniting of flame ceremony at Arc de Triomphe, according to the program shared by the organisers.

According to the press release, the Expected athletes and para-athletes including Léon Marchand and the Portal brothers, reunited for the first time after their respective exploits in the Paris La Défense Arena pool. After shaking up the Stade de France, Timothée Adolphe and Gloria Agblemagnon will also be taking part, as will judoka Teddy Riner and para-judoka Sandrine Martinet, as well as Cassandre Beaugrand and Alexis Hanquinquant, both winners of individual triathlon and para-triathlon events.

Pakistan shine at Paralympics and Olympics

It was the first time that Pakistan managed to win the medals at both Olympics and Paralympics in the same year and that too in individual sports.

From the Pakistani perspective, there were at least four volunteers out of the 45000 who represented the country and community at the Paris Olympics. At the same time, there was no information on whether Pakistanis enlisted for Paralympics or not for volunteering.

Waseem Bhatti had been the most visible one as he was working with Arshad Nadeem at the athlete's village and saw things more closely than anyone else.

He called his experience unique and 'once in a lifetime' as he also saw the athlete break the Olympic record and win the gold medal.

Similarly, on the Paralympic front, Pakistan had a fantastic spell with Haider Ali bagging the fourth medal for the country. He took the bronze medal in discus throw on September 6 and despite flu and exhaustion attended the Paralympics closing ceremony on September 8.

He was grateful for the reception he got from the Pakistan embassy in France as they put together a celebratory ceremony for him, where Arshad Nadeem was also present and welcomed him.

"Despite the wedding of his daughter the Pakistan Ambassador Asim Iftikhar made a point of receiving me and making things happen, he was a busy man but he recognised my medal and it meant a lot," Haider told this correspondent.

Haider had left Paris on Monday.

On September 9 UNESCO also held the Disabled Abilities Congress at the Unesco House in Paris where stars like Yannick Noah were also present to highlight the need for a better world that caters to the needs of disabled individuals.

The individuals with disabilities are more-able in other aspects.