The Paris 2024 Olympics came to an end with a spectacular closing ceremony at the Stade de France, celebrating the athletes and their exploits during the two-week event.
The ceremony also offered a glimpse of what could be in store in 2028, when Los Angeles will host.
Here are five key takeaways from this year’s Olympics:
‘From one day to the next, the whole of France became an Olympian’
Paris pulled back the curtain on the Olympic Games that brought scintillating sport to the heart of the French capital, breathing new life into an Olympic brand hampered by the struggles of the 2016 Games in Rio de Janeiro and the COVID-hit event in Tokyo.
Even the Parisians got carried away by the Olympic fervor.
“We wanted to dream. We have Leon Marchand,” Paris 2024 boss Tony Estanguet told the crowd, referring to the French swimmer who took home four gold medals and won a legion of new fans.
“Together we experienced games like we’ve never seen before, a whale even participated in the surfing final in Haiti. From one day to the next, time stopped and an entire country vibrated,” said Estanguet.
“France has rediscovered itself. From one day to the next, all of France became Olympians,” she added.
He also mentioned that the Olympics had “the most marriage proposals ever.”
‘Culture of peace’
COVID-19 forced Tokyo to postpone the Olympics by a year, until 2021, and then host a very restricted event.
Paris promised “light at the end of the tunnel” and more carefree games.
But Russia’s war in Ukraine on Europe’s eastern flank, Israel’s war in Gaza and France’s heightened security alert became increasingly important as the games finally got underway.
The president of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), Thomas Bach, greeted the athletes by declaring the Games over.
“You showed us what greatness human beings are capable of,” Bach said as he took the stage. “You lived together, you embraced each other even when some countries were divided and at war. You lived in peace.
“Thank you for making us believe in a better world for everyone.
“We know that the Olympic Games cannot create peace, but the Olympic Games can create a culture of peace that inspires the world.
“That is why I appeal to everyone who shares this Olympic spirit: let us live this culture of peace every day.”
The Olympic flag heads to Los Angeles
From the City of Lights to the City of Angels and Hollywood. With the end of the games in Paris, the Olympic flag was officially handed over to Los Angeles, which will host the 2028 Olympics.
Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass gave the Olympic flag to US gymnast Simone Biles to hold as she sang the US national anthem live at the Stade de France, packed with more than 70,000 people.
Tom Cruise – channeling his Mission: Impossible Ethan Hunt persona – jumped from the roof of the Stade de France into the arena.
Emerging from a crowd of selfie-taking athletes, Cruise took to the stage to receive the Olympic flag before leaving the stadium with the flag flying from the back of his motorcycle.
The screens then cut to Cruise running through the streets of Paris before walking up the ramp of a waiting plane.
The action then cut to Los Angeles, where Cruise was shown jumping out of a plane and parachuting to the Hollywood sign overlooking the city where he won the Olympic rings.
A celebration of humanity
Around 9,000 athletes danced and sang the night away during the closing ceremony, which was considered a celebration of humanity and the unifying power of sport.
On the stadium’s giant screens, Billie Eilish, Red Hot Chili Peppers, rapper Snoop Dogg and Dr Dre continued the party in a pre-recorded show on a California beach.
Each of them is a California native, including HE R.
The stadium crowd roared when French swimmer Leon Marchand collected the Olympic flame for the first time in the Tuileries Garden in central Paris.
Reappearing later in the stadium to spectators’ chants of “Leon, Leon,” Marchand extinguished the flame signifying the end of the 2024 games.
French singer Yseult, dressed in Dior Haute Couture, closed the event with a version of Frank Sinatra’s classic, My Way.
And now, the end is near. And so, we face the final curtain.
As we say goodbye to the Paris 2024 Olympic flame, Yseult presents us with a chilling version of “My way”.#Paris2024 #LA28 #Closing Ceremony pic.twitter.com/SWRYUpVW86
– The Olympic Games (@Olympics) August 11, 2024
Finally, sports memories
The French had a new golden boy to celebrate, with Marchand emerging as king of the pool, before French judoka Teddy Riner reigned supreme by winning his fifth Olympic gold medal.
Simone Biles left the misery of Tokyo behind, making her long-awaited Olympic comeback in front of a star-studded crowd. She arrived as the most decorated gymnast in the world and left with three more gold medals for her showcase.
Sports climbing, 3×3 basketball, skateboarding and surfing made their second appearances in the surfing competition taking place in Tahiti. Breaking made his Olympic debut – to some derision on social media – but may not appear again. It’s not on the LA list.
The IOC will be relieved that no major scandals have emerged, although it has had to deal with some controversies, including a firestorm over gender eligibility that hit women’s boxing competition, revealing tensions between the IOC and a widely discredited International Boxing Association. .
In medals, the North American team once again led the medal table, with 126 in total; 40 of them gold. China also won 40 gold medals, but only managed 27 silver. Still, it was the country’s best performance at an overseas Olympics since it began competing in 1984.
Japan also performed strongly after reaching its target of 20 gold medals and placing third in the medal table.
USA leads with 126 medals, including 40 gold
China 2nd with 91 medals, including 40 gold
Japan 3rd with 45 medals, including 20 gold
Australia 4th with 53 medals, including 18 gold
… pic.twitter.com/4pBciWJ0uz– Commentary on the Paris 2024 Olympics (@Paris2024Club) August 11, 2024
This story originally appeared on Aljazeera.com read the full story
