Seine-Saint-Denis inherits the symbols of the Paralympic Games

For Stéphane Troussel, this choice made "with the Paris 2024 agreement and the International Olympic Committee (...) is not a coincidence".

"We wanted to make these Games an inclusive and popular event and it was quite successful," said the man who is also the spokesperson for the Socialist Party.

Weighing one and a half tonnes each, the three red, blue and green crescents, named "Agitos" ("I move"), were taken down during the night from Wednesday to Thursday before being placed in Bobigny, at the Prisme, the "inclusive sports and metropolitan reference centre".

The only legacy facility from the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games, the Prism will enable high-level training and competitions for para-athletes when it opens this winter.

"It will be a new unique disabled sports hub, since the Prisme has no equivalent in France," emphasizes Stéphane Troussel, satisfied that "these emblems complete the heritage for which (he has) fought since the first day."

While the French capital was the main theatre of competition this summer, Seine-Saint-Denis was highlighted by the Olympic aquatic centre built opposite the legendary Stade de France and the department hosted four Paralympic events including the entire paracycling road event.

"More than a souvenir, these Agitos are a symbol of the links that unite Seine-Saint-Denis and the Games and an invitation to bring their values ​​and heritage to life," reacted Tony Estanguet, president of the organizing committee of the Paris 2024 Games, in a press release.

"The question of sports practice for children and adults with disabilities is one of the challenges that French society must face in the aftermath of the Paralympic Games," stressed Stéphane Troussel.

Better known to the public, the Olympic rings installed on the Eiffel Tower still have an uncertain future: the plan of the mayor of Paris to keep this logo on the monument until the Los Angeles Games in 2028 has raised strong criticism among heritage defenders and descendants of Gustave Eiffel.