Paris 2024 prepares festivities for handover ceremony with Tokyo 2020

PARIS - Paris 2024 organizers on Tuesday, in partnership with the Eiffel Tower Operating Company, conducted a large-scale test on the Eiffel Tower as part of preparations for festivities linked to the handover ceremony with Tokyo 2020.

"Less than 50 days before the opening ceremony of the Tokyo 2020 Games, we are thinking of our Japanese counterparts and looking forward to the start of the Games, which we have all missed so much. Just like the Olympic and Paralympic athletes, Paris 2024 is also getting ready for Tokyo," Paris 2024 president Tony Estanguet said.

The official handover will be among the highlights of the Olympic Games closing ceremony, which will take place on August 8 in the Olympic Stadium in Tokyo. The governor of Tokyo will officially pass the Olympic flag to the mayor of Paris Anne Hidalgo ahead of an artistic sequence, during which Paris 2024 will provide a foretaste of its festive ambition.

To celebrate this handover and the joy of people coming back together after a challenging year, Paris 2024 and the city of Paris will organize the 'Live des Jeux'(live games) in Paris - a space offering screenings, sports and festive activities in the Trocadero Gardens throughout the Tokyo 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games.

"Today was just a test, but we are sending an invitation to the French public and the whole world to join us on August 8th for the first Paris 2024 ceremony," Estanguet added.

France's elite air display team, the Patrouille de France, will fly over the French capital on August 8 as part of the celebrations.