The closing ceremony of the Paris Olympics took place at the Stade de France in Saint-Denis. The event began with the entrance of swimmer Leon Marchand, who dipped a piece of fire from the bowl into the lamp. The athlete won the most gold medals, finishing first three times.
The celebration was continued by singer Zhao de Sagazan with a performance of Edith Piaf’s “Sous le ciel de Paris”. The stadium was graced by national teams, volunteers and the French anthem played by an orchestra. This was followed by a spectacular performance choreographed by Thomas Jolly, in which acrobats descended from the roof and pianist Alain Roche soared above the stadium with the piano.
This was followed by performances by Phoenix, Air, Ezra Koenig, DJ Kavinsky and others. The Mayor of Paris handed over the Olympic flag to the Mayor of Los Angeles (where the next summer tournament will be held), accompanied by gymnast Simone Biles. Another personification of Los Angeles, Tom Cruise, “flew” from the roof of the stadium directly onto the stage, where he accepted the flag to take it to Hollywood.
The broadcast moved to Venice Beach, a coastal area west of Los Angeles. There, the Red Hot Chili Peppers performed with “Can’t Stop,” Billie Eilish and Finneas in Ralph Lauren with “Birds of a Feather,” Snoop Dogg with “Drop It Like It’s Hot.” For the finale, we returned to Paris, where French singer Iso in Dior closed the ceremony with the song “My Way.”
It was previously reported that Thomas Bach was stepping down from his post at the head of the International Olympic Committee. He was due to be re-elected for a new term in 2025. We discuss this in more detail here.
