What happened during the celebratory parade for Paris 2024 Olympians

Thousands of people showed up.

Daniel Seow | Ilyda Chua | Hannah Martens | August 14, 2024, 11:11 AM

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Singapore's Paris Olympics campaign has ended, but the celebrations continue.

10 Team Singapore athletes will celebrating from an open-top bus in a parade from 11:30am to 1pm.

Follow us live for updates on the parade:

1:55pm The bus parade has ended

Image via Mothership

1:43pm The bus parade is ending and the bus is returning to Kallang

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Image via Mothership

1:21pm Max Maeder's dad spotted in the cheering crowd along Victoria Street

Image via Mothership

This is him. Smiling wide and taking a video of the bus.

Image via Mothership

1:08pm Hundreds cheer for the Olympians outside Tekka Centre

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1:01pm SOTA students scream as bus passes by SOTA

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Image via Mothership

12:58pm SOTA students do the SOTA wave while waiting for the bus

Gif via Mothership

12:52 Even more supporters on the other side of Orchard

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12:50pm Hundreds of SOTA students revels outside their school as they wait for the Olympians

Gathering.

Taking photos.

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Hiding from the drizzle.

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Singing and cheering.

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"We're here to support Max! We love Singapore!"

12:47pm Bus passes by Orchard

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12:33pm Passing by Hill Street: Crowd on both sides of the road, SCDF officers comes out to cheer

On the bridge in front of Funan.

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Infront of MDDI.

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In the middle of the road.

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SCDF officers coming out to cheer.

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Image via Mothership

12:30pm Crowd also spotted on the bridge in front of Clarke Quay Central

12:22pm Crowd cheers as bus passes by Chinatown

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12:05pm Crowd at Chinatown waits in anticipation

While scheduled to reach the Chinatown cheer point at 12pm, the bus was held back by weather, traffic and the bus slowing down for the overwhelmingly passionate supporters.

One kid at Chinatown, not quite sure when the bus will be arriving, decided to just yell at every bus he saw:

"HI MAX MAEDER!!!"

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12:01pm Bus passes by MBS, crowd goes wild again

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11:59am Supporters wait in the rain at Chinatown

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11:54am Crowd goes wild as bus passes by SGX Centre 2

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11:51am Olympians taking selfies on the bus

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11:46am Large crowds gather at Chinatown cheer point

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As large crowds gather at the cheer point in front of People's Park Complex, police officers arrived for crowd control.

Image via Mothership

Jess, 45, told Mothership she came down to support Max Maeder.

"He may feel very sad, but we are still very happy for him. I don't care about the colour of his medal... I just think his performance is so inspiring. He's so mature and down-to-earth, and even congratulated the other medallists."

11:44am Vehicles honk in support as they pass by the bus

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11:34am Bus moves off

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11:30am Crowd gathers ahead of the parade

Amid grey skies and drizzle, supporters of Singapore's Olympians gathered on Aug. 14 for the celebratory open-top bus parade.

Image via Mothership

At the departure site, fans dressed in red began appearing as early as 10am.

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Asked why she turned up to support the athletes, one woman, Debbie, said in Mandarin that she wanted to welcome them home because she felt "very proud."

"We are very happy because Maximilian got bronze and also brought glory to Singapore."

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Crowd gathers at Chinatown

In front of People's Park Complex, people also gathered in anticipation of the bus passing by.

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People started waiting on the bridge for good views and photos.

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The mood was celebratory.

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Angelin, 18, who was distributing flags to supporters said, "It's heartwarming. We also wanna let them know that their country is supporting them, no matter whether there's a medal or not."

Danial, 19, ITE Central, student-athlete in his school's volleyball team, said, "I know how hard it is to train; it's very mentally and physically tiring. You put in all that hard work just to get results that you may not want. So since we got the bronze medal, at least I'll be here to support."

10am Fans arrive early at start point, cheers when Max Maeder shows up

Fans arrived at the start point early in anticipation of the athletes.

Image by Mothership.

Some fans are holding up giant placards in support for the athletes.

Image by Mothership.

Minister for Culture, Community and Youth and Second Minister for Law Edwin Tong poses for a picture with the athletes.

Image by Mothership.

Max Maeder has arrived. He's taking some photos with the kids here.

Image by Mothership.

 

Image by Mothership.

Who will be there:

Ten out of the contingent who went to Paris are on the bus today.

They are:

  • Kitefoiler Max Maeder
  • Sailor Ryan Lo
  • Swimmer Gan Ching Hwee
  • Shuttlers Terry Hee, Jessica Tan and Yeo Jia Min
  • Table tennis players Izaac Quek and Zhou Jingyi
  • Sprinter Marc Louis
  • Kayaker Stephenie Chen.

Background

The celebratory parade was announced on Aug. 11.

The parade will wind through the city, with the Olympians travelling on an open-top bus.

There are five designated cheer points, where members of the public will have the opportunity to cheer on the athletes:

  • Bayfront Avenue (In front of Marina Bay Sands), 11:45am
  • Chinatown (In front of People’s Park Complex), 12pm
  • Orchard Road (Junction of Orchard Road and Bideford Road), 12:20pm
  • Serangoon Road, 12:40pm
  • Victoria Street (Mural Wall near Camera Museum), 12:45pm

Top image by Mothership