Internet Reacts to Closing Ceremony’s Golden Voyager

This Closing Ceremony character deserves a gold medal, literally.

During the closing ceremony of the Paris 2024 Olympics on August 11, fans on social media were quick to spot the Golden Voyager statuette that stole the show.

The masked alien character, designed by the artistic director of the ceremony Thomas AllegroHe descended from the top of the arena wearing an all-gold suit of armor with a spiked headpiece (one user on X, formerly Twitter, described his appearance as that of a “space wasp”).

Thomas designed the artistic character to represent the Voyager Golden Record, humanity’s first spacecraft sent into space by France in 1977, according to the Associated Press, and kept the public entertained. Very entertained during a part of the ceremony that paid tribute to the history of France and the Olympics themselves.

In addition to floating down from the rafters, Golden Voyager completed a long interpretive dance around the closing ceremony stage. Many spectators shared mixed reactions to the creative element on social media.

“’Sleep Paralysis Demons’ is an interesting theme for the closing ceremony,” wrote user X. “Let’s see where it takes us.”