All the best moments from the Paris 2024 closing ceremony in pictures
Updated . First published at
Whole stadium cheers for Jessica Fox
Three-time Olympic gold medallist Jessica Fox had an outfit change after walking out of the Olympic Village in the Australian uniform, and it was for a very special reason...
New job after massive Olympics
It's because she's a newly-elected member of the IOC's Athletes' Commission, which got up on the stage and had their moment as the whole crowd cheered.
Teen skateboarding sensations
We took some of our youngest athletes over to Paris this year, and while a lot of weight may have been on their little shoulders, they didn't show that.
In fact, Arisa Trew and Chloe Covell hitched a ride on their teammates' shoulders into the ceremony.
Trew won a gold medal at just 14 years of age.
So many references
Australia's youngest gold medallist Arisa Trew held up the Australian flag as she was being given a lift on her teammate's shoulders.
Team Australia also carried chef hats in their hands – could that be a reference to Ratatouille, or golfer Min Woo Lee's popular 'Let Him Cook' gag?
Epitome of French chic
And we're off!
The ceremony started with a live cross to where the Olympic flame has been living these past few weeks.
Sous le ciel de Paris was the opening tune – famously once sung by Édith Piaf, it means 'Under the Paris Sky', and it was Zaho de Sagazan who brought it to life at the closing ceremony.
Under the Paris Sky
The Choir of the Haendel-Hendrix Academy accompanied de Sagazan for the opening tune, at the water basin in Tuileries garden near the Louvre.
Sixteen days ago, this cauldron was lit in an historic ceremony
It's been sitting in the Tuileries garden ever since.
Here it is pictured on August 11 in Paris, ahead of the closing ceremony.
The cauldron is set to be dismantled after the Paralympics.
More than 71,500 people packed into Stade de France
More than two weeks ago, more than 2000 performers lined the streets of Paris, where the world welcomed the games with 12 tableaux across the Seine and other iconic monuments.
But for the closing ceremony, it's all centralised in Stade de France, which hosted the rugby and track and field events throughout the Olympics.
Special role for French hero
A wild Léon Marchand appears.
He's carrying the Olympic flame to the Stade de France, ready for the handover to Los Angeles 2028.
Here come the athletes
Back at Stade de France, the Olympians have started filing in for the ceremony.
More than 270 artists and performers, 8200 athletes, 1040 projectors and 9000 staffers have been mobilised for the closing ceremony.
