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PARIS —With medals around their necks and the Eiffel Tower in the background, Paris Olympics athletes chanted, danced and even cried.
In a first for the Summer Games, organizers gave athletes a place to celebrate their victories and be closer to fans - and they made the most of it.
Champions Park launched Monday at the Trocadero, the site of the opening ceremony of the Paris Games, where Olympic winners can share their experience with family members and thousands of fans who this time didn't need to buy tickets or make reservations to be part of Games.
Players from the French men's rugby team, which beat Fiji over the weekend to win gold, were the first to be welcomed at the park, dancing and running around the stage as the crowd chanted. They posed at the end of the stage for a photo with the Eiffel Tower in the background, then led the crowd to chant with them.
"The whole location was the coolest thing," French rugby player Aaron Grandidier Nkanang said. "We're just in front of the Eiffel Tower, and there's thousands of people out to come and cheer us on. I feel as if this year, they've done a really good job of treating after winning athletes with memories that we're going to cherish forever."
American Haley Batten, a silver-medalist in mountain biking, called it a "crazy experience."
"The Olympics in Paris is just something special. I was soaking all that up and it's crazy to actually achieve a medal and to be able to enjoy this," she said.
French mountain biker Pauline Ferrand-Prevot, the gold medalist, couldn't hold back tears as fans chanted her name.
Others at Champions Park included athletes who won medals in fencing, judo and skateboarding. Each celebration will hold a ceremony for the medal winners of the previous days. Athletes can bring up to four family members to watch them.
Serena Williams and Nadia Comaneci are among the former Olympians scheduled to participate in the celebrations that will take place nearly every day and that include music, entertainers and live broadcast of the Games.
Up to 13,000 fans will be allowed at the venue each day, and organizers expect some 130,000 visitors through the end of the Olympics. More than 1,000 athletes are expected to celebrate their victories with fans at the Champions Park, according to organizers.