The Paris Olympics came to an end Sunday after more than two weeks of hard-fought victories and painful losses while organizers successfully showcased the beauty of the French capital.
The closing ceremony was held at the 80,000-seat Stade de France, where the French national football and rugby union teams play international matches and athletics and rugby sevens took place during the games.
Swimming star Leon Marchand and judoka Teddy Riner met the expectations of the home crowd and sports fans from around the world by winning four and two gold medals, respectively.
The United States and China each ended up with 40 gold medals. Japan finished third in the gold race with 20, the most for Olympics held abroad.
"We wanted strong images, our competition venues will go down in the history of the games," Tony Estanguet, president of the Paris Olympics organizing committee, said, referring to the venues close to many of the city's landmarks such as the Eiffel Tower and Palace of Versailles.
Athletes from more than 200 national Olympic committees and the Refugee Olympic Team competed, and medalists attended victory ceremonies without wearing masks, a marked difference to three years ago at the postponed Tokyo Olympics which was held with no spectators amid the coronavirus pandemic.
Among the flag bearers during the closing ceremony were U.S. swimmer Katie Ledecky, who won a female record-tying ninth Summer Games gold medal, and two female boxing gold medalists at the center of a gender eligibility row, Algeria's Imane Khelif and Taiwan's Lin Yu-ting.
For Japan, javelin thrower Haruka Kitaguchi and breaker Shigeyuki "Shigekix" Nakarai carried their national flag.
"The Olympic Games Paris 2024 were a celebration of the athletes and of sport at its best," International Olympic Committee President Thomas Bach said. "The first Olympic Games delivered completely under our Olympic Agenda reforms: younger, more urban, more inclusive, more sustainable. The first Olympic Games with full gender parity."
At the end of the ceremony, the Olympic flag was handed from Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo to her Los Angeles counterpart Karen Bass for the next games in 2028 before Hollywood star Tom Cruise made an appearance in Paris and Grammy Award-winning artist Billie Eilish, Snoop Dogg and others performed on a beach in Los Angeles.
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