More than 12 million tickets were sold for the Olympic and Paralympic Games and Paris organizers on Friday called it an “unprecedented success”.
The 12,132,647 tickets for both Games represented 95 percent of the crowd capacity at the venues, said Tony Estanguet, head of the Paris organizing committee.
“We knew how complicated it could be to organize such a big event, and we can now say that we are very happy that it all went well,” Estanguet said at a press conference in Saint-Denis.
Estanguet noted that the Paris Games set a new benchmark for attendance and engagement. On the final night of Paralympic athletics on September 7, 67,500 tickets were sold at the Stade de France, the highest attendance for any session this summer.
“There was a bit of courage to challenge ourselves to do things that had never been done before,” Estanguet said, referring to the opening ceremonies of the Olympic and Paralympic Games held outside stadiums, and competitions held nearby from prestigious sights such as the Eiffel Tower and the Palace of Versailles. .
Estanguet said this innovative approach caught the attention of the organizers of the 2028 Los Angeles Games, who monitored the Parisian team all summer.
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He also announced that Paris and Los Angeles organizers will hold multiple meetings in the coming months to share insights between the Games.
“The main message would be to be bold and build on the specificities and strength of their territory,” Estanguet advised. “It’s up to them to define what LA 28’s greatest strength is and to really have courage.”
The feel-good sports summer in Paris culminates on Saturday in a major parade on the Champs Elysées with hundreds of French athletes.
© 2024 The Canadian Press
