The Stade de France was packed with people for the closing ceremony of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games. In the stands, also the French President and host, Emmanuel Macron and the First Lady, Brigitte Macron, who shook hands with the many authorities present in the stands. The ceremony opened with ‘Sous le ciel de Paris’, ‘Under the sky of Paris’, the famous song by Edith Piaff, performed under the golden hot air balloon with the Olympic flame that has been shining for fifteen days in the Tuileries Gardens.
During the closing ceremony of the Olympics, they entered the Stade de France in Paris Rosella Fiamingo and Gregorio Paltrinieri, chosen by Coni as the Italian flag bearers. The parade continues in no particular order, with the entry of various athletes from different countries. For Italy, a record-breaking expedition ends: 40 medals won with 12 golds, 13 silvers and 15 bronzes.
French swimmer Léon Marchand extinguished the Olympic cauldron, one of the symbols of the Games, during the closing ceremony of the Paris 2024 Olympics.
The 7-meter diameter ring stopped glowing when the four-time French gold medalist used a lantern to extinguish the Olympic flame. Carried every night in the skies of Paris by a hot air balloon, the brazier will remain one of the most popular symbols of the French Olympic days. It will be turned on again for the Paralympic Games which are scheduled from August 28th to September 8th.
The latest Italian feat
The last day of the Olympics in Paris gave a legendary gold medal to the Italian women’s volleyball team! Coach Julio Velasco’s team beat the USA 3-0 (18-25, 17-25, 20-25). It is Italy’s twelfth gold in the Paris expedition.
The party starts on the court. It’s a triumph of tricolors at the Arena Sud where Julio Velasco’s Azzurre have just won the only medal that Italian volleyball was missing: the Argentine coach was carried in triumph after the point with which the American reigning champions were beaten. A 3-0 without history in which Paola Egonu was the star with 22 points. To the tune of ‘Sarà perché ti amò the whole arena went wild.
Velasco: “We’ve always had great “fire””
«We still have to realize what we have done, we lost only one set, a record in an Olympics. We have always had great “fire” and clarity, the final was the best match”. So the coach Julio Velasco after the Olympic gold medal in women’s volleyball. “I feel proud for this team, for the staff, even the Coni put us in ideal conditions, it’s a victory for the whole movement, even for the small clubs. Women’s volleyball is for girls what soccer is for boys. I hope that the gold medal will give a boost, there aren’t enough gyms for all the girls who want to play volleyball.”
Modern Pentatholon
Elena Micheli finished fifth in the modern pentathlon final. In the gardens of Versailles, gold went to Hungarian Michelle Gulyas (with a world record of 1,461 points), silver to French Elodie Clouvel and bronze to Korean Seungmin Seong. The other Italian, Alice Sotero, came in thirteenth.
Track cycling
American Jennifer Valente wins gold in the women’s omnium, finishing with 144 points. Silver goes to Poland’s Daria Pikulik (131), bronze to New Zealand’s Ally Wollaston (125). Letizia Paternoster, the last Italian competing at the Paris Games, finishes in eleventh place with 84 points.