Keiichi Kimura (left) and Natsuki Wada run during the closing ceremony of the Paris Paralympic Games in Saint-Denis, France on Sunday.
16:48 JST, September 9, 2024
SAINT-DENIS, France — The Paris Paralympic Games, which sparked excitement and emotion around the world, ended Sunday with a closing ceremony in Saint-Denis, France, where athletes enjoyed the colorful show in a relaxed atmosphere. They vowed to deliver another great performance at the 2028 Los Angeles Paralympic Games.
The ceremony began in the rain at 8:30 p.m. on Sunday evening at the Stade de France near Paris.
The stadium was lit up in the blue, white and red tricolor, and flag bearers representing countries and regions walked into the stadium with “Au Champs Elysees” in the background. Table tennis player Natsuki Wada, 21, and swimmer Keiichi Kimura, 33, joined the parade. Wada, who won gold in the women’s singles in her Paralympic debut, held the Japanese flag.
“I am happy that I won the gold medal that I dreamed of. I want to keep working hard to achieve my next goal,” she said.
Kimura, who won gold in the men’s 100-meter butterfly and 50-meter freestyle in the S11 class for people with visual impairments, walked with a hand on Wada’s shoulder and waved enthusiastically to the crowd.
“I am more than happy to celebrate the end of the Games with the strongest athletes I have ever met,” said Kimura.
Keiko Sugiura, 53, who won gold in the women’s C1-3 road cycling race in the disability class – renewing her own record as the oldest Japanese person to win a Paralympic gold medal – said she was able to play on “a very glamorous stage”.
“Thank you Paris!” Sugiura said.
“It was a great time for me to perform on this big stage,” said Uchu Tomita, 35, who won bronze in both the men’s 400m freestyle and 100m butterfly in the visually impaired S11 category.
