Superstar Antoine Dupont decorated with the top honour in France
Antoine Dupont and France’s Olympic Games-winning sevens team were decorated with the country’s highest award, the Legion of Honour, by the country’s president Emmanuel Macron during Saturday’s Champions Parade in Paris.
The Champions Parade was held to honour France’s close to 10,000 athletes, organisers and volunteers who were involved in Paris’ recent Olympic Games and Paralympic Games.
March from the Champs-?lysées to the Arc de Triomphe
The athletes, organisers and volunteers, who were involved in the Olympics and Paralympics, participated in a march from the Champs-?lysées to the Arc de Triomphe monument as part of the Champions Parade.
Like all the other Olympic and Paralympic medallists, the entire squad of players of?France‘s men’s sevens team received a republican decoration in public.
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During the champions’ parade, Dupont received his badge from Macron.
Meanwhile, the country’s new prime minister, Michel Barnier, was also in attendance at the event and he, as well as other personalities from the world of sport such as Didier Deschamps, Thierry Omeyer, Jackson Richardson, Sarah Ourahmoune and ?milie Le Pennec, were responsible for decorating the other players of coach Jér?me Daret’s team.
On Saturday night Macron tweeted: “Pride of a Nation,” alongside an image of the athletes while they were on stage in front of the Arc de Triomphe.
Fierté d’une Nation. pic.twitter.com/9ZcscAra7t
— Emmanuel Macron (@EmmanuelMacron) September 14, 2024
All the athletes who received their first gold medals at the Olympic and Paralympic Games were also named to the rank of Chevalier of the Legion of Honour.
Special dance from France’s sevens squad
Following their official ceremony during the champions’ parade, France’s sevens squad reproduced the dance they had performed after they were crowned Olympic champions at the Stade de France in July.
France finished in fifth position in the medal count at the Olympics, with 64 total in total, of which 16 were gold, 26 silver and 22 bronze. They ended in eighth spot at the Paralympic Games with 19 golds and 75 total medals.