Paris Olympics 2024 closing ceremony – as it happened
All our text commentary and photo updates from the Stade de France as the curtain falls on the Summer Games.
This page is now closed. Thanks for joining us. These were the updates from the closing ceremony of the Paris Olympics 2024 on Sunday, August 11:
- The Paris Olympics 2024 comes to an end with the closing ceremony.
- The event at Stade de France in Paris moved to Los Angeles at the end, ahead of the 2028 Games, where Billie Eilish, Snoop Dogg, Dr Dre and the Red Hot Chili Peppers performed on Venice Beach.
- Prior to that, Hollywood actor Tom Cruise abseiled from the roof of the stadium in the French capital to collect the Olympic flag ahead of it’s journey to LA.
- The opening ceremony was held on July 26 and was staged on the Seine in the French capital.
- The event marked the first time the opening ceremony was not held inside the Olympic Stadium of the host city.
- Lady Gaga was the headline and first act of the event, which ended with the lighting of the cauldron in a hot-air balloon next to the Louvre art museum.
The final medal count top three:
- Team USA: Gold 40, silver 44, bronze 42. Total: 126
- China: Gold 40, silver 27, bronze 42. Total: 91
- Japan: Gold 20, silver 12, bronze 13. Total: 45
That’s it from our Paris 2024 live coverage
After two weeks of events and numerous live pages from Al Jazeera, that’s it from our commentary on the Olympic Games.
We’ll be back with all our usual sport coverage, including the start of the new English Premier League season next week.
For now, though – from me Kevin Hand, my colleague Hafsa Adil and all the team that brought you our live Olympic coverage – it’s goodbye.
The spectacular fireworks show
The City of Light is illuminated by fireworks
The roof of Stade de France releases a firework display to match the nickname of Paris: The City of Light.
Paris did it their way as the curtain falls
French singer, Yseult, closes the game with a rendition of the Frank Sinatra classic My Way.
Bach declares the Paris Games ‘closed’
And with that, the flame, inside the lantern carried by Marchand, is extinguished.
Leon Marchand emerges with the Olympic flame
The French swimmer walks into the stadium with the Olympic flame in the lantern he collected from the cauldron at the start of the ceremony.
A blast of Olympic colour ends the LA show
Snoop and Dre’s segment finishes with a blast of the five Olympic colours behind them and it’s back to Paris.
Dr Dre joins Snoop!
Well that was unexpected. It’s the one and only D.R.E. alongside Snoop on the stage on Venice Beach surrounded by sand sculptures.
Snoop Dogg and Dr. Dre? We must be in LA. 🤩🙌#Paris2024 #LA28 #ClosingCeremony pic.twitter.com/8qKbDY1yMX
— The Olympic Games (@Olympics) August 11, 2024
Snoop Dog takes over – of course he does
Finally, everyone gets what they wanted as Snoop has the mic – singing his 2004 classic Drop It Like It’s Hot.
The darling of the Paris Games has everyone smiling as usual.
Photos: The Tom Cruise show in Paris
Billie Eilish takes to the stage
The USA singer performs on a stage next to the one the Red Hot Chilli Peppers just played on.
Over to Red Hot Chilli Peppers
The famous Californian band play on Venice Beach, the latest destination for the flag, with a giant LA28 stand behind them.
Tom Cruise repels into the stadium
The Hollywood actor, star of the Mission Impossible film series, descends into the arena from the roof of Stade de France.
Emerging through a crowd of selfie-taking athletes, Cruise heads to the stage to collect the Olympic Flag before leaving the stadium with the flag flying from the back of the motorcycle he is riding.
The screens cut to Cruise racing through the streets of Paris before riding up the ramp of a waiting plane.
The action then cuts to LA where Cruise leaps from the plane and parachutes to the Hollywood sign overlooking the city.
He then pins the Olympic Rings to the Hollywood sign.
The Los Angeles Memorial Colosseum is the next destination for the flag, where former USA sprinter Michael Johnson collects the flag.
This is quite the blockbuster.
H.E.R. performs US national anthem
With the flag in the hands of the Lost Angeles mayor, the US national anthem rings around Stade de France.
The handover to LA28 begins
The Olympic anthem has played and the flag has been lowered in preparation for the handover to Los Angeles.
Karen Bass, the mayor of LA, is there to receive the flag from Bach. Team USA gymnast Simone Biles is also on the stage.
‘Team Refugees made the City of Light shine brighter than ever before’
“You showed us what greatness human beings are capable of,” Bach said as he took to the stage. “You lived together, you embraced each other even though some countries are 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.
“This is why I call on everyone who shares this Olympic spirit: Let us live this culture of peace every single day.”
More from Estanguet
“We are a country of moaners but we woke up in a country of wild supporters who never wanted to stop singing,” he continued. “This evening, I have never been so proud to be French – we showed the most beautiful face of France.
“We knew you would be magnificent. We have this phrase in France that ‘love hits hard’.
“Since July 24, screaming, crying, crazy love. For the ones we didn’t know before but we now know their first names on behalf of billions of sport lovers across five continents – thank you so much.”
‘From one day to the next, the whole of France became Olympic’
International Olympic Committee President Thomas Bach is reintroduced to the crowd as he takes to a podium in the centre of the stage.
Six athletes accompany him, along with the president of Paris 2024, Tony Estanguet, who is first to address the crowd.
“On the first day of the Paris 2024 adventure, we have been preparing for everything but we could not prepare for that – everything we just lived together,” he said.
“When the athletes travelled along the Seine, Celine Dion sang from the Eiffel Tower and the Olympic Cauldron was lit, a wave rolled out that carried the whole world in its wake.
“Our competition venues will remain in the history of the games. We wanted fervour and excitement, we got passion. We wanted to dream, we had Leon Marchand.
“Together, we lived the games as never seen before, a whale even took part in the the surfing finals in Haiti. From one day to the next, time stopped and a whole country vibrated. France rediscovered itself. From one day to the next, the whole of France became Olympic.
“All that was possible because of you all, who met up – the millions of spectators.”
The artists rolled through their section
Kavinsky, also known as Vincent Belorgey, plays Nightcall before he’s followed by Cambodian rapper Vannda and French duo, Air.
The crowd and the athlete loved this section, which appears to now be switching to the speeches as a recap of the games is played on the big screen and to the global audience.
Celebrity spotting: Tom Cruise makes an appearance
