Paris 2024 closing ceremony RECAP: Olympic flame extinguished as Games officially closed; Superstars arrive as LA handover begins; Athletes kicked off stage as arty turns to party

The past two weeks have been a fantastic celebration not only of sport, but also of humanity.

We've had some unexpected stars like Turkish shooter Yusef Dikec and even Aussie breaker Ray-Gun

There has also been heartbreak. Boxer Harry Garside's emotional interview after bombing out in the early rounds tugged at heartstrings across the country.

It was Australia's best ever Games, and hopefully aspiring athletes can ride this momentum all the way to LA in 2028 and Brisbane in 2032.

From a journalist's point of view, it's been an incredible privilege to bring it all to you, the reader. Thank you for joining us on this ride.

On behalf of the entire Wide World of Sports team, thanks for joining us.

We'll do it all again in a couple of weeks when the Paralympics begins.

Merci beaucoup.

No one could put an end to athletes' celebrations at the closing ceremony. Not even Olympic organisers.

French indie rock band Phoenix were awarded the honour of marking the end of the 2024 Olympic Games, taking to the stage to play a medley of hits.

But in a bizarre turn of events, the ceremony was halted as pleas to return to the floor were ignored while athletes swarmed the stage.

READ THE FULL STORY HERE

It was a sensational closing ceremony to conclude a truly sensational few weeks – well, a truly 'Seine-sational' Olympics, as outgoing IOC president Thomas Bach joked in his speech.

For Australia, the Paris 2024 team is one that won more gold medals than any other Australian contingent. For the world, as president of the Paris organising committee Tony Estanguet highlighted in his speech, Paris 2024 broke "a new record that is very close to our hearts: The most marriage proposals ever at an Olympic Games."

Whether you choose to refer to Paris as the City of Light or the City of Love, it doesn't matter – because the Stade de France closing ceremony very much had it all.

READ THE FULL CLOSING CEREMONY WRAP HERE

After that final formality, the lights went down once more and eyes turned to French singer and model Yseult, who performed My Way - the Frank Sinatra classic.

At the conclusion, an explosion of fireworks and colour, and the conclusion of the closing ceremony.

"The theme of the Closing Ceremony tonight, record," Eddie Maguire said in commentary for Nine.

"It was a record performance by our Australian athletes. Paris provided record crowds, record ratings around the world on all platforms of media.

"Paris, with its insouciance, avant garde, elan and history provided one of the great Olympic Games.

"Paris, merci beaucoup, au revoir. See you in four years when the City of Angels welcomes the world to the city of dreams for LA 2028."

We've come back to Paris now where Leon Marchand has finally arrived at the Stade de France with the Olympic flame.

He was greeted with raucous chants of "Leon, Leon" as the athletes rushed back toward the center of the stadium.

IOC president Thomas Bach is back (sorry), too.

"I have one more task to perform," he begins.

"I declare the Games of the XXXIII Olympiad, Paris, closed."

And just like that, the flame is extinguished.

French rugby start Antoine Dupont also passed the French flag to Nantenin Keita, a Paralympian.

This handover symbolises the transition from the Olympics to the Paralympics.

RHCP handed over to Billy Eilish, who then passed it to Snoop Dogg.

It really was a who's who!

With RHCP's By The Way playing underneath, the clip eventually showed Cruise arriving in LA, where he rides past some of the LA sights.

In Hollywood, some extra rings and colour added to the Hollywood sign.

The landmarks shown include the massive LA Colliseum, which hosted the Games in 1932 and 1984. It will host track and field in 2028.

A slew of American Olympians are involved in the shoot, which eventually wraps up with a Cruise body double arriving at Venice Beach, where who else but the Red Hot Chili Peppers are waiting on stage.

They play Can't Stop, and it's all very cool.

How good is Will Ferrell on drums? (I know it's not him, Chad Smith is awesome too).

There he is!

LA is Hollywood, and Hollywood is LA. Tom Cruise was long-believed to be a part of this ceremony, and he's come in full Mission Impossible.

As soon as the anthem finished, cameras switched to Cruise up on the roof. He then left off, and swooped down to the stage as HER played a wicked guitar solo. I wonder if she's playing live?

Cruise is mobbed by pretty excited fans, I mean athletes as he made his way to the stage. He then took the flag off Simone Biles - who's wearing a moonboot. He jumped onto a motorbike and high-tailed it out of the stadium.

Hope he's got a good snorkel.

After the speeches, comes the handover from Paris to LA.

Something tells me this ceremony is about to change gears a bit.

Snoop Dogg has been in Paris for the duration of the Games, so surely he's short odds to perform.

The Red Hot Chili Peppers have also been rumoured to be a part of the festivities.

The handover begins with passing of the Olympic flag from Paris to the US, followed by the US national anthem, performed by H.E.R. She performed at the Super Bowl, for those who remember.

Honestly, these games have been pretty fantastic and I was worried it might have knocked Sydney off as the "Best Games Ever".

Alas, no.

"These were sensational Olympic Games from start to finish. Or, dare I say, Seine-sational Games," IOC president Thomas Bach said in his speech.

Not a bad pun, but HA! Sydney still No.1.

Also, Emma McKeon is on stage alongside him as the Oceania representative. Each colour of the Olympic rings represent a region. Americas, Asia, Africa, Oceania, Europe.