Subhuti on the closing ceremony at the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris last night
Sometimes the best moments are unrehearsed. In the Stade de France, in the centre of Paris, ten thousand athletes from more than 200 countries gathered for the Olympic closing ceremony on Sunday night.
A crowd of 75,000 people filled the stands, while millions more around the world watched on television. The contests were all finished. The medals handed out.
The athletes entered the stadium in a casual, relaxed and happy manner, laughing, hugging, waving, and taking the inevitable selfies. Ahead of them lay an evening of high-tech light shows, rock bands, special effects and Olympic symbolism.
Just before it all started, almost as a time-filler while waiting for the main event, the crowd and the athletes were invited to sing along with a number of popular songs. The first few were French, naturally, but then came the iconic song by Queen, “We Are the Champions”.
Suddenly, the energy in the stadium took off, and everyone was singing. The meaning of the song was transformed.
Hitherto, when sung by just one successful sports team, it signified a small victory. But here, it rose above all that. Everyone was singing it together. All the athletes were included. Even the audience was included.
“We are the champions, my friends…”
It was as if these athletes realized they had participated in something more than a competition: an international experience of ‘fraternité’ in which everyone had done well, just by being part of it.
The Olympics is not a perfect expression of humanity at peace with itself. Far from it. There were many moments of heartbreak, disappointment, frustration.
British runner Matthew Hudson-Smith wept tears of despair when he only won silver instead of gold. But in contrast, 51-year-old Andy Macdonald was delighted to come 17th out of 21 contestants in skateboarding. “I’m having the time of my life!” he told the cheering crowd, who adored him.
A young climber called Tony Roberts, only 19, looked puzzled, then stunned in disbelief, when he was told he’d won gold in the rock scaling event. Ellie Aldridge from the British seaside town of Bournemouth, giggled in embarrassment when she beat everyone in the kite surfing.
Such contrasting reactions!
In fencing, the Georgian swordsman was so angry at losing the final that it seemed for a moment he would shove his rapier through the judge. Fortunately, he didn’t. At the end of the women’s heptathlon, with its gruelling seven track and field events, all the athletes walked around the track together, arm in arm.
As usual, the Americans and Chinese ran away with the biggest medal hauls, with the Americans just topping China’s medal count. France, the host nation, produced one of its best performances since 1896, when the modern games began.
And then, after 19 days, with a thousand medals won and lost, it was all over.
And here, in this casual, informal part of the closing ceremony, the legendary song by Queen melted all their differences:
“We are the champions, my friends…”
In this moment, everyone had a gold medal.
There aren’t many occasions when the world comes together in joyful camaraderie.
This was one of them.
Photo (detail) by Amada MA on Unsplash
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