Vitality landed in Paris July 20 morning after the Sunday Grand Final in Lisbon, then made their way from Charles de Gaulle to a Champs-Élysées reception organised by the Paris mayor's office. 32,000 fans lined the avenue. ZywOo lifted the BLAST Spring Finals trophy from the Arc de Triomphe balcony to close the ceremony.
The parade route
- 09:20 CEST: Team arrives Charles de Gaulle on the ATR 42 charter flight from Lisbon (BLAST-arranged team transport).
- 10:15 CEST: Motorcade departs CDG for Champs-Élysées. Escorted by Paris municipal police.
- 11:00 CEST: Parade begins at Place de la Concorde. Team on open-top double-decker. XTQZZZ waving from second deck.
- 11:40 CEST: Halfway point at Franklin D. Roosevelt station — first trophy lift by apEX for the crowd.
- 12:15 CEST: Arrival at Arc de Triomphe. Mayor Anne Hidalgo hands ZywOo the ceremonial keys to the city.
- 12:30 CEST: ZywOo trophy lift from Arc de Triomphe balcony. 32,000-person crowd chant "ZY-WOO! ZY-WOO!" for 4 minutes 18 seconds.
The crowd size context
32,000 fans is the largest parade for a French esports team on the Champs-Élysées in history. Comparison points:
- French national football team (2018 World Cup): 200,000+ (whole avenue capacity).
- French Basketball team (Eurobasket 2013): 8,000-12,000.
- Prior Vitality title celebration (BLAST Rotterdam 2025 SF, no title): ~4,000 outside their Paris HQ.
- Champagne cork counted: 640 by Paris municipal cleanup crews.
ZywOo's balcony speech
ZywOo (translated from French):
"When I signed with Vitality in 2019 I was 18 years old. I dreamed of lifting one of these trophies in front of the Arc de Triomphe. Today I did it. Not because of me — because of the 5-player team. apEX. ropz. Magisk. flameZ. Coach XTQZZZ. And every one of you 32,000 people standing on the Champs-Élysées right now — you are why I still play. Merci Paris. Merci Vitality. Merci pour tout."
XTQZZZ took the microphone next: "I called an emergency coaching-loss press conference on July 5. I told everyone I lost us the Cologne Nuke close-out. Some of you thought I was crazy admitting it publicly. Today double-OT Nuke on the Grand Final — the exact same round-by-round scenario — we won. This is why we bootcamp. This is why we practice. Merci beaucoup."
The mayor's speech
Paris mayor Anne Hidalgo confirmed at the ceremony that the city will support Vitality's application for the 2028 Paris Esports Olympic Games venue selection. Vitality's Paris HQ is being considered as one of three CS2 venue candidates for the announced 2028 Esports Olympics pilot.
The Mongolian-language streaming coverage
Interestingly, Mongolian-language Twitch co-stream of the Paris parade (via bLitz's solidarity stream from Ulaanbaatar) reached 68,000 concurrent viewers — Mongolian fans respectfully following the champions' celebration. bLitz commented during the stream: "Today is their day. Tomorrow the Ulaanbaatar reception. Two nations, two celebrations. That's what CS2 became this year."
What's next
Vitality take a 5-day rest period starting Monday. Return to standard practice at the Antwerp facility July 27. No RMR required (pre-qualified for Rio Major as Cologne runner-up). Rio Major bootcamp opens mid-September.
