Paris Games chief hails 12 million tickets sold

PARIS -- More than 12 million tickets were sold for the Olympics and Paralympics, and Paris organizers hailed it as an "unprecedented success" on Friday.

The 12,132,647 tickets across both Games represented 95% of crowd capacity at the venues, said Tony Estanguet, the head of the Paris organizing committee.

"We knew how complicated it could be to organize such a big event, and we can now say that we are very happy it all went well," Estanguet said at a news conference in Saint-Denis.

Estanguet noted the Paris Games set a new benchmark for attendance and engagement. The last evening of Paralympics athletics on Sept. 7 sold 67,500 tickets at the Stade de France, the highest turnout for any session this summer.

"There was a bit of daring in challenging ourselves to do things that had never been done before," Estanguet said, referencing the Olympics and Paralympics opening ceremonies held outside stadiums, and competitions staged near prestigious landmarks such as the Eiffel Tower and Palace of Versailles.

Estanguet said this innovative approach captured the interest of 2028 Los Angeles Games organizers, who shadowed the Paris team throughout the summer.

He also announced that the Paris and Los Angeles organizers will have multiple meetings in the coming months to share insights between the Games.

"The main message would be to be audacious and to build on the specificities and the strength of their territory," Estanguet advised. "It's up to them to define what is the main strength of LA 28 and to really be audacious."

Paris' feel-good summer of sport culminates on Saturday in a grand parade on the Champs Elysées featuring hundreds of French athletes.