Paris (AFP)

A Marseillaise in "song-sign", a mix composed with the eyes and an unprecedented choreography: the president of the organizing committee of the Olympic Games-2024 Tony Estanguet and the mayor of Paris Anne Hidalgo promised on Friday emotion during the Tokyo Paralympics closing ceremony scheduled for Sunday.

After two weeks of competition, the Tokyo Paralympic Games are due to end on Sunday, with a closing ceremony marked by the handover between the Japanese capital and the French capital.

Ten minutes of celebration will therefore be offered by the next host city at the Trocadéro and broadcast as part of the ceremony.

A sequence "in the image of our ambition for the Paralympic Games in Paris 2024: that of showing that performance belongs to all those who engage in what they do, handicap or not", explained Tony Estanguet during '' a joint press conference with the Parisian councilor at the Théâtre national de Chaillot.

So on the program Sunday, a Marseillaise interpreted by Betty Moutoumalaya in "song-sign", translation of a musical work in sign language, followed by a choreography signed Sadeck Waff accompanied by a team of 126 performers, including 19 in situation handicap, as well as Oxandre Peckeu, a young man equipped with a revolutionary arm prosthesis, printed in 3D.

Finally a mix of the artist Pone, suffering from Charcot's disease since 2015, that the co-founder of the Marseille rap group the Fonky Family composed only thanks to the movement of his eyes.

"We wanted to convey a lot of emotion" through this ceremony "which carries meaning", explained Tony Estanguet.

Anne Hidalgo must fly to Tokyo on Saturday to return on Monday with the Paralympic delegation in Paris.

"I will probably not have this feeling that I had when with Tony and others we participated in the Rio Games ceremony (2016, note) where the crowd was there, moreover much more present for the Paralympics than for the Olympics, ”she recalled.

"I know it, I say it again, in the stadiums, in the swimming pools, in the places of the performances of the Paralympic Games, I had emotions like I never had in my life."

A national tour of the Olympic and Paralympic flags will also be launched from September 8 through several cities in France.

© 2021 AFP