Au revoir: Paris Olympics close with star-studded show

SETTING out to prove that topping Paris isn’t mission impossible, Los Angeles rolled out a skydiving Tom Cruise, Grammy winner Billie Eilish and other stars as it took over Olympic hosting duties for 2028 from the French capital, which closed out its 2024 Games just as they started – with joy and panache.

Yesterday’s (Sunday, August 11) closing ceremony capped two and a half extraordinary weeks of Olympic sports and emotion with a boisterous, star-studded show in France’s national stadium, mixing unbridled celebration with a sombre call for peace from IOC President Thomas Bach.

Following in Paris’ footsteps promises to be a challenge: It made spectacular use of its cityscape for its first Games in 100 years, with the Eiffel Tower and other iconic monuments becoming Olympic stars in their own right as they served as backdrops and venues for medal-winning feats.

But the City of Angeles showed that it, too, has aces up its sleeves, like the City of Light.

Cruise – in his Ethan Hunt persona – wowed 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.

The appetite-whetting message was clear: Los Angeles 2028 promises to be an eye-opener, too.

Still, this was largely Paris’ night – its opportunity for one final party. And what a party it was.

“These were sensational Olympic Games from start to finish,” Bach said.

Having announced his intention to leave office next year, Bach also struck a more sombre note as he appealed 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,” he said. “Let us live this culture of peace every single day.”

Then came another change of gear, courtesy of Cruise.

In a pre-recorded segment after being lowered on a rope live from the roof’s giddy heights, Cruise drove his bike past the Eiffel Tower, onto a plane and then skydived over the Hollywood Hills. Three circles were added to the O’s of the famed Hollywood sign to create five interlaced Olympic rings.

The thousands of athletes who danced and sang the night away cheered it – and the artistic show that celebrated Olympic themes, complete with firework flourishes.

Multiple time zones away, Eilish, the Red Hot Chili Peppers, rapper Snoop Dogg – wearing pants with the Olympic rings after being a popular mainstay at the Paris Games – along with his longtime collaborator Dr. Dre kept the party going with performances on Los Angeles’ Venice Beach.

With the 329 medal events finished, the expected 9,000 athletes – many wearing their shiny medals – and team staffers filled the arena, dancing and cheering to thumping beats.

The closing ceremony 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 medallists from the women’s marathon earlier 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.

The US team again topped the medal table, with 126 in all and 40 of them gold. Three were courtesy of gymnast Simone Biles, who made a resounding return to the top of the Olympic podium after prioritising her mental health instead of competition in Tokyo in 2021.

Unlike Paris’ rain-drenched but exuberant opening ceremony that played out along the Seine River in the heart of city, the closing ceremony’s artistic portion took a more sober approach, with space-age and Olympic themes.

A golden-shrouded figure dropped spider-like from the skies into a darkened world of smoke and swirling stars. Olympic symbols were celebrated, including the flag of Greece, birthplace of the ancient Games, and the five interlaced Olympic rings, lit up in white in the arena where tens of thousands of lights glittered like fireflies.

 – WITH AAP