Flagbearers parade during the closing ceremony at the Stade de France, on Aug. 11.Dita Alangkara/The Associated Press
Gold medallists Summer McIntosh and Ethan Katzberg held the Maple Leaf high Sunday, part of the final spectacle of the Paris Olympics.
The duo were among the nearly 200 Canadians who participated in a ceremony to close out what has been a record-setting Games for the country.
“Our Olympians have made us proud,” Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said in a statement. “They competed with athletes from around the world and brought home a total of 27 medals. They showed everyone that Canada belongs on the world stage — as leaders and champions at the pinnacle of sport.”
With pink cotton candy-coloured clouds stretched over the open-air Stade de France, Toronto’s McIntosh and Katzberg, of Nanaimo, B.C., paraded across a massive angular stage before taking their spot in a giant circle around the floor of the 80,000-capacity venue. A live orchestra played as flags from more than 200 nations streamed past.
McIntosh, 17, won four medals in Paris, including three gold, and set two Olympic records. The 22-year-old Katzberg claimed the country’s first-ever gold in hammer throw.
More than 100 other Canadian athletes poured in minutes later, leading off two groups of thousands of athletes entering the stadium.
Canada’s 184-strong delegation at the ceremony included 130 athletes alongside 54 coaches and support staff.
The Canadians all came dressed in shorts and T-shirts in a dark, galaxy-like pattern with “CAN” written vertically down the back in white letters, and the medal winners proudly carried their hardware around their necks.
The stadium screens carried the words, “Together, united for peace.” With the 329 medal events finished, the expected 9,000 athletes — many wearing their shiny medals — and team staffers who filled the arena danced and cheered to the thumping beats.
The stadium, France’s largest, was one of the targets of Islamic State gunmen and suicide bombers who killed 130 people in and around Paris on Nov. 13, 2015. The joy and celebrations that swept Paris during the Games as French athletes racked up 64 medals — 16 of them gold — marked a major watershed in the city’s recovery from that night of terror.
The ceremony closed out a Games that saw Canada collect 27 medals, including nine gold.
The Canadian group waved, blew kisses and clapped as they made their way to their designated area, then danced, took photos and searched for loved ones in the crowd as the rest of the contingents filled the venue’s purple floor.
The stories behind Canada’s athletes show what makes the country great, Trudeau said.
“Their stories are the story of Canada — of kindness and dedication; of compassion and resilience; of hope and hard work,” he said. “Every corner of our diverse country has these stories — some being shared now and some yet to be written.”