Paris 2024 Paralympics: the closing speech by Tony Estanguet ...

On Sunday evening, during the Closing Ceremony of the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games, Tony Estanguet, Chairman of the Organising Committee, took to the stage at the Stade de France. Giving his final speech, the former Olympic canoeing champion was acclaimed by the audience. Here is his closing speech in full.

« Dear athletes,

Dear Paralympic revolutionaries,

Dear lovers of the Games,

In life, there are encounters that touch us,

Encounters that transform us,

That make us better people.

The Games we have experienced together were about sport, they were about records...

But above all, it has been a story of encounters. The kind of extraordinary encounters that leave a permanent mark.

Our encounter with you, dear Paralympians, is one of them.

So tonight, nobody wants these Games to end...

But we can still make this last moment with you one to remember for the rest of our lives.

So I suggest we do what we've done so well since 28 August: show all these great athletes how much we love them...

Show them how much they have inspired us,

Show them how proud they've made us,

Show them how much they have moved us.

We've already broken a lot of records with these Games... Tonight, I propose to break one more:

I'm going to ask you to stand up if you can, to give them the loudest ovation, the craziest ovation, the longest ovation of their lives!

Picture by Tullio M. Puglia/Getty Images

Dear athletes,

This has been incredible. Undeniable. Unforgettable.

And it's all thanks to you.

Every time you competed, more people joined the party.

Every time you succeeded, the intensity grew.

With every wow, every cry, every heart you sent racing, you changed how people see sport and how they see the disability.

Thanks to you, everyone has seen what an inclusive world looks like.

You have launched this Paralympic revolution and now there is no turning back.

Tonight is not just the end of the Paralympic Games, it's also the end of Paris 2024.

So I'd like to thank all of you who are here this evening and who have been with us since the first day of the Games: in the stadiums, in the fan zones, in the bars, in the streets...

You have never been spectators. From the start, you’ve been supporters.

You've given us everything: the flags, the shaking stands, the giant athletes' faces, the singing, the dancing in the rain, the thunder claps, the Mexican waves...

You've even invented the silent Mexican wave for Blind Football.

The success of these Games is also your success.

Much has been said about Paris 2024’s spectacular venues: at the foot of the Eiffel Tower, at the Château de Versailles, at the Grand Palais, in front of the Invalides, on the Place de la Concorde, on the Pont Alexandre III...

And it's true that this was crazy.

But what has been most important in these Games is the people.

Without you, dear athletes, dear supporters, these venues would have been nothing but empty theatres.

The success of these Games has come from your encounter with each other.

And this encounter will leave its mark on us forever.

Because the emotions we've experienced this summer have quite simply made us happy.

When, on the evening of the BMX race final, Joris Daudet turned round the second he crossed the finish line to see if his French team-mates were going to join him on the podium,

We exploded with joy with him.

When Aurélie Aubert won her Boccia gold medal, the first ever for France

We cried with her.

When Frédéric Villeroux scored the decisive penalty

We were all in heaven.

Picture by Michael Reaves/Getty Images

And while these emotions may have been fleeting, the memory of this historic summer will remain with us forever.

This summer when the crowds danced in the streets of Montmartre waiting for the cyclists,

This summer when people talked to each other, this summer when France was happy.

The power of the emotions we've experienced together is also in leaving a legacy.

When Léon Marchand had the whole of France screaming in unison every time he lifted his head out of the water in breaststroke, it inspired thousands of children to walk through the door of a swimming club.

When the Brazilian swimmer Gabrielzinho won his three gold medals in a crazy atmosphere, he definitively changed how we think about difference and sent out a powerful message to all people with disabilities: sport is for you too.

With every one of his appearances, the Paralympic revolution gained more ground.

This encounter between athletes and supporters will stay with us forever, because the emotions that we experienced brought us together.

What creates the feeling of belonging to a family, a group of friends, a nation?

First and foremost, it's what we experience together.

Like those interminable seconds when the roulette wheel finally chose Teddy Riner for the final bout of the judo team final...

This summer, millions of families, friends, lovers, colleagues and neighbours created shared memories.

This summer, an entire country was thrilled by the same feats.

Beyond the language we share, beyond the values we hold in common, beyond the symbols, monuments and history books, what binds us together and shapes us as a nation are our collective emotions.

What binds us together are the memories we share. And the Games have given us incredible shared memories.

This summer, France had a date with history, and the country showed up.

France dared to imagine things that had never been done before: the first opening ceremonies of the Olympic and Paralympic Games outside a stadium, the first marathon open to all, the first Games in the heart of the city...

France dared to believe in the power of sport.

Picture by Naomi Baker/Getty Images

With the Games, we rediscovered our heritage, our creativity and our capacity to achieve great things.

We rediscovered our joie de vivre, our impertinence at times, and above all, all the positive energy that exploded in the stands!

These Games will have been an encounter between France and itself.

The France that smiles. The France that loves itself. The France that we are proud of. The France that breaks records:

Olympic medal records

Paralympic medal records,

Spectator records,

Audience records,

Atmosphere records,

“Allez Les Bleus" records

Thank you to everyone who made this possible.

Thank you to the great Paris 2024 family. For weeks, months and years now, you have been working like crazy, all over France, in every field. You are the ones who have built the success of Paris 2024.

Picture by Tullio M. Puglia/Getty Images

Thank you to our volunteers, some of whom are with us tonight, so please give them a round of applause. THANK YOU to our volunteers.

And finally, thank you to all those who have kept us all smiling despite the end of summer holidays: the 237 athletes and 20 guides in the French Paralympic team.

Thank you to all of you.

Paris 2024 was the challenge of my life...

The greatest, the most beautiful, the most collective... and it has been an immense honour to lead a French team of this kind.

Dear Paralympic revolutionaries,

Dear lovers of the Games in France and around the world,

The Paris 2024 Games are coming to an end, but their message is staying with us.

Just like the athletes who have inspired us so much,

Just like the men and women who pushed all the limits to make these Games a success,

Let's keep trying, keep failing and keep getting back up again,

Let's keep doing,

Let's keep believing,

And above all... let's keep daring. »