It started to rain and full of energy, they reached the last day tired and predictable. The Games of the XXXIII Olympiad are over. They are games of return to normality, games of return to the public arena, games that are always said to be more ecological. Athletes such as Liane Marchand, Simone Biles, Mijan Lopez, Snoop Dogg and Kingsam Lamo of Bhutan have broken personal records by running under four hours in the women’s marathon. Everything happened under the skies of Paris (and Marseilles and Tahiti), and everything ended at the Stade de France.
If the opening ceremony was meant to be different, held on a floodlit night, in style and danger, the closing ceremony was confined to a stadium, touching all the keys of etiquette and predictability. It’s a more popular party, less ritualistic, more for the athletes and less for the organizers – here’s a sample of London 2012, featuring George Michael, Pet Shop Boys, Queen and the Spice Girls.
One was set up Half an hour of Daft Punk (just to get back to the action) and it’s a guaranteed treat. Instead, by the middle of the ceremony we had already heard the anthem of France, the anthem of the Netherlands (by women’s marathon winner Sifan Hassan) and the anthem of Greece. Karaoke A combination of Charles Aznavour, Joe Dassin, Gala and Rani. We’ve heard twice (and probably many more times) that Thomas Bach, the president of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), was the Olympic fencing champion in 1976.
Tired of it all, the athletes took to the stage to shake their feet as the 17 days of competition played out moments of pride and despair on giant screens. It’s a cosmic coincidence. “Thank you athletes,” the video ended, and soon the loudspeakers said, “Dear athletes, leave the stage so the show can go on.” They didn’t leave, but the show went on – and eventually they did.
The festival reached its most popular moment with mini-sets from Phoenix, Air and Vampire Weekend. The festival guide says that at this point, “the party increases in intensity” – a very optimistic plan. Later, Bach (fencing champion in 1976), the intensity subsided with formal speeches by Tony Estanguet, chairman of the Games Organizing Committee. Another anthem was played (the Olympic one) and the Olympic potato was handed to Los Angeles, which will host the Games in 2028.
Los Angeles brought Snoop Dogg to Paris to see the sights, walk through the matches (he even showed up on the day Patricia Sampaio won bronze in judo) and appeared on stage with the likes of the Red Hot Chili Peppers and Billie Eilish (all three performed live in LA, and the crowds on the beach looked really lively). , and Tom Cruise, who picked up the Olympic flag and carried it from the stadium to California on a motorcycle. In four years, the entire Olympic camp will move there. They may give up “cheerleading,” lacrosse, and human football. But don’t forget Snoop.
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