PARIS (Dispatches) - The Olympic flag was passed to Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo for the 2024 Games at the Tokyo closing ceremony as thousands gathered near the Eiffel Tower to celebrate the handover.
Hidalgo waved the flag, decorated with the five Olympic rings, after she received it from International Olympic Committee president Thomas Bach in Tokyo.
Thousands of people, including medalists who have returned from Tokyo, gathered near the Eiffel Tower to welcome the handover of the Olympic flag to Paris, which will host the Games in 2024.
A flyover by jets from the Patrouille de France (“Patrol of France”) released blue, white and red smoke – the colors of the French flag – in the sky of the capital.
French President Emmanuel Macron was filmed on the top floor of the Eiffel Tower saying the Olympic slogan “higher, faster, stronger” and adding: “Together”.
Organizers planned to unfurl a football-field sized flag with the emblem of Paris 2024 from atop the tower but opted against it due to windy weather.