Paris 2024: The IPC President's Closing Ceremony speech

President Macron,  

Mayor Hidalgo, 

My good friend, Tony Estanguet, President of the Paris 2024 Organising Committee 

Paralympians,  

Peuple de France, 

Paralympic sport fans all over the world 

Tonight, we must bring the record-breaking Paris 2024 Paralympic Games to a close. 

With more competing countries, women and global coverage than ever before, Paris 2024 has set a benchmark for all future Paralympic Games. 

Thank you to Tony Estanguet and all the Paris 2024 Organising Committee. With Games Wide Open, you staged the most spectacular Paralympic Games ever. 

My heartfelt thanks to the volunteers. 

Day and night, your tireless work contributed to the success of these Games. Your energy and enthusiasm inspired us all. 

All our thanks to Team IPC, the International Olympic Committee, the marketing partners, the media rights holders, Press, OBS, and OIS. 

To the wonderful crowds, 

For a country famous for its fashion and food, France is now famous for its fans. 

Peuple de France, votre passion et votre soutien ont été incroyables et magnifiques. 

Avec esprit et fierté, vous avez rendu ces 12 derniers jours joyeux et inoubliables. 

You celebrated the start of the inclusion revolution with a Paralympic party in Paris. 

Together with fans all over the world, you idolised the athletes and were in awe at what you saw. 

Free from barriers, Paralympians performed to their best. 

Through sport they showed what humanity can achieve when given an opportunity to succeed. 

You saw strength in difference. But now it is time for you and society to make a difference. 

Inspired by sport, I ask you all to be inspired with your commitment to change. 

Appreciation and applause must be followed by acceptance and action. 

Changed attitudes must lead to changed views. 

Words of praise must be replaced by words of conviction. 

Obstacles must become opportunities. 

We all have a collective responsibility to use the momentum of the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games to make the world around us more inclusive. 

What a Paralympic legacy this would be, not just for these athletes, but the world’s 1.3 billion persons with disabilities that they represent. 

Beyond 12 days of sport, we must break down the barriers that exist in society. We must enable and empower persons with disabilities to excel outside of the field of play, in education, in employment, in entertainment, in government, in civil society – everywhere! 

Diversity and difference should not divide us. 

Diversity and difference should unite us, drive change and make this planet better for everyone. 

Change Starts with Sport and our Paralympic led inclusion revolution has accelerated change to make this city and this country more inclusive. 

Thank you to President Macron for your wonderful commitment, action, and friendship. 

Thank you City of Paris Mayor Hildalgo, you have made the most beautiful city on earth more accessible and attractive to persons with disabilities. 

Thank you Ile-de-France President Valerie Pecresse for your ambition to make the Metro accessible. The best Paralympic legacies are the ones that continue post-Games, and I call on everyone involved to make the dream of an accessible Paris Metro a stunning reality. 

Paralympic athletes, 

On the greatest stage of all, you were the stars of the show. You wrote a world where we all belong. 

From the sporting theatres of Grand Palais to Versailles, Stade de France to La Defense, your performances lit up the city of blinding lights. 

You arrived here as hopefuls. You leave here as athletic heroes and heroines, role models for a better and more inclusive future. 

To the Refugee Paralympic Team, eight athletes, two medal wins, you can forever call the Paralympic Movement your home. 

With the support of National Paralympic Committees, International Federations, and officials, these were the greatest Games for sport performance. 

Sadly, the time has come for me to declare the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games closed. 

I call upon Paralympic athletes from all over the world to meet again in Los Angeles in four years’ time where the Paralympic Games will aim to transform America. 

Nous aimons Paris, nous aimons la France.  

Merci beaucoup! Thank you very much! Muito obrigado!