IOC President Thomas Bach closed the Summer Olympics in Paris at 11:58 pm
Image: Keystone
Emmanuel Macron's emotional speech: "I have never been prouder to be French"
Image: Keystone
The Swiss Alain Roche at the closing ceremony with his "piano vertical"
Image: Keystone
Tom Cruise stood on the roof of the Stade de France for selfies before abseiling down from the roof into the stadium like in "Mission Impossible"
Image: Keystone
France's new sporting hero Léon Marchand brought the flame from the "Jardin des Tuileries" to the Stade de France, where it was extinguished
Image: Keystone
IOC President Thomas Bach closed the Summer Olympics in Paris at 11:58 pm
Image: Keystone
Emmanuel Macron's emotional speech: "I have never been prouder to be French"
Image: Keystone
The Swiss Alain Roche at the closing ceremony with his "piano vertical"
Image: Keystone
Tom Cruise stood on the roof of the Stade de France for selfies before abseiling down from the roof into the stadium like in "Mission Impossible"
Image: Keystone
France's new sporting hero Léon Marchand brought the flame from the "Jardin des Tuileries" to the Stade de France, where it was extinguished
Image: Keystone
The Summer Olympics come to an end in Paris with a big show. At 23:58, IOC President Thomas Bach officially declared the "Paris 2024* Games over.
12.08.2024, 00:06
12.08.2024, 07:13
SDA
Thomas Bach probably made his last major Olympic appearance. At the weekend, Bach announced that he would be stepping down from the IOC presidency next year, as stipulated in the Olympic Charter after twelve years. Bach watched the closing ceremony alongside Emmanuel Macron, the President of the French Republic. At the end, he spoke of "sensational Olympic Games - or should I say Seine-sational Games?"
Macron gave an extremely emotional speech. He had never been prouder to be French! Paris 2024 had broken many records - the spectator record, and never before had there been so much singing on the streets during the Olympics, said Macron.
In his closing speech, Bach (70) emphasized that the Paris 2024 Olympic Games were the Games of a new era: "The first Olympic Games that were completely in line with our reforms to the Olympic agenda: younger, more urban, more inclusive, more sustainable. The first Olympic Games with full gender parity."
The IOC President thanked the hosts. "Dear French friends, you fell in love with the Olympic Games. And we have all fallen in love with you," said the 1976 Olympic fencing champion from Montreal.
Flag bearer arrives again
Whether Bach's other statements stand up to any fact-checking remains to be seen. According to the IOC President, the CO2 footprint has been reduced by 50 percent compared to previous Olympic Games.
The Swiss delegation at the final ceremony was no longer large. The athletes leave no later than 48 hours after their competition. Julie Derron from Zurich, silver medal winner in the triathlon, and Roman Mityukov from Geneva, bronze medal winner in the 200 m backstroke, carried the Swiss flag into the Stade de France. Both traveled back to Paris for the closing ceremony. "Julie (Derron) and Roman (Mityukov) represent sports that continue to bring us joy on the world stage," said Ralph Stöckli, head of the Swiss delegation, who appointed the flag bearers.
Volunteers carried the national flags into the stadium for other of the 206 countries taking part, some of which no longer had any athletes in Paris.
Show with a Swiss
The show at the closing ceremony lived up to the high expectations. It was once again staged by Thomas Jolly, who had already designed the opening ceremony. Tom Cruise, the great Hollywood actor, actually abseiled into the Stade de France like in "Mission Impossible". Cruise symbolically picked up the Olympic flag on his way to Hollywood. The Red Hot Chili Peppers, Billy Eilish and rapper Snoop Dogg played in Los Angeles.
Meanwhile, swimmer Léon Marchand, the star of the Games, carried the Olympic flame from the "Jardin des Tuileries" to the Stade de France, where it was extinguished. Marchand is the new national hero thanks to his five medals in swimming (4x gold). No athlete was more successful during the Paris Games than Marchand.
Top French acts from the cultural scene came to perform. One Swiss man helped shape the big show: Pianist Alain Roche (51) presented his "piano vertical" and played the Apollo anthem, which was composed 130 years before Christ and is considered one of the oldest pieces of music ever, on a grand piano suspended in the air.
