Spain won a total of 18 medals at the Paris Olympics, which came to a close on Sunday night – including five gold medals.
Capping two and a half extraordinary weeks of Olympic sports and emotion, the boisterous, star-studded closing ceremony in France’s national stadium mixed unbridled celebration with a sombre call for peace from International Olympic Committee President Thomas Bach.
Setting out to prove that topping Paris isn’t mission impossible, Los Angeles then also rolled out a skydiving Tom Cruise, Grammy winner Billie Eilish and other stars as it took over Olympic hosting duties from the French capital.
The US team again topped the medal table, with 126 in all, 40 of them gold. China came second with 91 medals (also 40 gold), with Japan and Australia taking third and fourth places. Spain’s 18 medals put them in 15th position in the table. Click here for the full medals table.
The closing ceremony also saw the awarding of the last medals — each embedded with a chunk of the Eiffel Tower. Fittingly for the first Olympics that aimed for gender parity, they all went to women — the gold, silver and bronze medalists from the women’s marathon earlier on Sunday.
The women’s marathon took the spot of the men’s race that traditionally closed out previous Games. The switch was part of efforts in Paris to make the Olympic spotlight shine more brightly on the sporting feats of women. Paris was also where women first made their Olympic debut, at the Games of 1900.
‘Paris became a party again and France found itself,’ said Tony Estanguet, head of the Paris Games organising committee, at the start of the closing ceremony.
Thousands of athletes danced and sang the night away — revelling in the artistic show that celebrated Olympic themes and its firework flourishes.
At what will be his last Games after announcing his intention to step down next year, IOC President Thomas Bach jokingly calling the Paris Games ‘Seine-sational’ — a nod to the River Seine that, despite water quality concerns, staged Olympic triathlon and marathon swimming and the wacky yet wonderful opening ceremony.
He also made a sombre appeal for ‘a culture of peace’ in a war-torn world.
‘We know that the Olympic Games cannot create peace, but the Olympic Games can create a culture of peace that inspires the world,’ said Bach. ‘Let us live this culture of peace every single day.’
He praised the athletes’ performances for ‘sparking excitement’ around the world, but also nodded to a pivot in the Olympic movement – to ‘a new era’.
‘The Olympic Games Paris 2024 were a celebration of the athletes and sport at its best,’ Bach said during his speech. ‘The first Olympic Games delivered fully under our Olympic Agenda reforms: younger, more urban, more inclusive, more sustainable. The first Olympic Games with full gender parity.’
He added, speaking directly to the athletes: ‘You showed us what greatness we humans are capable of. Thank you for making us dream.’
But Los Angeles, the City of Angels that will host the 2028 Olympics, also showed that it holds some aces.
Hollywood star Tom Cruise — in his Ethan Hunt persona — wowed the crowds by descending from the top of the stadium to electric guitar ‘Mission: Impossible‘ riffs. Once his feet were back on the ground — and after shaking hands with enthralled athletes — he took the Olympic flag from star gymnast Simone Biles, fixed it to the back of a motorcycle and roared out of the arena.
Cruise then drove his bike past the Eiffel Tower in a pre-recorded segment, onto a plane and then skydived over the Hollywood Hills. Three circles had been added to the O’s of the famed Hollywood sign, creating five interlaced Olympic rings.
On the Paris stadium’s giant screens, Billie Eilish, the Red Hot Chili Peppers, rapper Snoop Dogg — wearing pants with the Olympic rings after being a popular feature of the Paris Games — and Dr. Dre kept the party going in an pre-recorded show from a California beach.
The appetite-whetting message was clear: Los Angeles 2028 promises to be an eye-opener, too.
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