The Paris Paralympics came to a close on Sunday with Tony Estanguet, president of the Paris 2024 organizing committee, saying the Paralympics and Olympics created a “historic summer.”
Speaking at the Stade de France in front of around 4,400 athletes from 168 Paralympic delegations, Estanguet said the closing ceremony marked the end of six weeks of Olympic and Paralympic fervor in the City of Light.
Estanguet said they would remain “etched in people’s memories.”
“This summer, France had a date with history, and the country showed up,” he said.
“This summer when people talked to each other, this summer when France was happy,” the former Olympic canoeist said, referring to how France was deeply divided by snap elections just weeks before the Olympics opened.
Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo passed the Paralympic flag to International Paralympic Committee President Andrew Parsons, who gave it to Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass. Los Angeles will host the Games in 2028.
Broadway star Ali Stoker then sang the American national anthem before a film was shown of a band performing on a Californian beach as skateboarders and wheelchair athletes performed tricks.
Despite initial fears about ticket sales, the Paralympics took place in mostly full stadiums, benefiting from the feel-good factor of the highly successful Olympics, which ended on Aug. 11.
Parsons said the Paris Paralympics had shown that “change starts with sport.”
The action in Paris and the organization and gender parity of the competitors set new standards for the Paralympics, he said.
Both Paris 2024 symbols were extinguished before a vibrant electronic concert on the Stade de France field.
It was kicked off by Victor Le Masne as LED bracelets worn by the crowd and athletes on the field lit up the arena for more than an hour.
The 24-artist show with highlights such as Jean-Michel Jarre, Cassius, Busy P and Kungs was ended in style by icon Martin Solveig, who finished his set with 2010 hit “Hello” and then Daft Punk’s “One More Time.”
Meanwhile, the cauldron housing the Paralympic flame, in the form of the base of a hot air balloon, which has risen into the air every evening, was unable to make its final journey skyward from the Tuileries Gardens on Sunday because of high winds and rain, organizers said.
Flag bearers Keiichi Kimura (left) and Natsuki Wada carry the Japanese flag during the closing ceremony.
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China finished on top of the medal table in Paris, as it has for every Paralympics since Athens in 2004. The Chinese had 94 golds, followed by Britain with 49 and the United States with 36.
Japan finished 10th with 14 golds, 10 silvers and 17 bronze medals.
Ukraine’s athletes overcame the considerable obstacles posed by the war with Russia to finish in seventh place with 22 golds, and host nation France was eighth with 19.
On the final day of competition, Switzerland won both Paralympic wheelchair marathons, while the Netherlands secured back-to-back women’s wheelchair basketball titles.
Catherine Debrunner propelled her racing wheelchair through the autumnal chill in the streets of Paris early Sunday morning to win the women’s marathon.
The 29-year-old Swiss athlete added to the four gold medals she had already won on the track at these Games. Debrunner claimed gold in the 400- and 800-meter races in the T53 classification and in the 1,500 and 5,000 in the T54 classification, with a silver in the T53 100 thrown in for good measure.
Marcel Hug, 38, made up for a disappointing Paralympics by dominating the men’s wheelchair marathon, finishing 3 minutes, 40 seconds ahead of Hua Jin of China.
A minute’s silence was held after one of the women’s marathons in memory of Rebecca Cheptegei, the Ugandan Olympic marathon runner who died this week after being set on fire by her partner. Cheptegei had finished 44th in the women’s marathon on Aug. 11.
The Netherlands scored a convincing 63-49 win against the United States to retain the women’s wheelchair basketball title it won at the Tokyo Games.
The Americans must wait until 2028 before trying to win the title that their men secured for a third Games in a row on Saturday. The United States women’s last title came at the 2016 Rio Games.