| Part of2024 Summer Olympics | |
 Parade of flag bearers and athletes | |
 | |
| Date | 11 August 2024; 15 months ago (2024-08-11) |
|---|---|
| Time | 21:00 – 00:10CEST (UTC+2) |
| Venue | Stade de France |
| Location | Saint-Denis,France |
| Coordinates | 48°55′28″N2°21′37″E / 48.9245°N 2.3602°E /48.9245; 2.3602 |
| Also known as | Records (Recordings/Memories) |
| Filmed by | Olympic Broadcasting Services (OBS) |
| Footage | 2024 Summer Olympics Closing Ceremony in Olympic Channel onYouTube |
The closing ceremony of the2024 Summer Olympics took place at theStade de France inSaint-Denis on 11 August 2024.[1]
As per traditional Olympic protocol, the ceremony featured cultural presentations from both the current (France) and following (United States) host countries, as well as closing remarks byInternational Olympic Committee (IOC)PresidentThomas Bach and theCOJOP2024PresidentTony Estanguet; the official handover of theOlympic flag from Paris mayorAnne Hidalgo toLos Angeles mayorKaren Bass, whose city would host the2028 Summer Olympics; and the extinguishing of theOlympic flame. The ceremony featured a mix of filmed and live segments, which included the second half of the Los Angeles 2028 presentation, recorded inLong Beach, California.
As with the opening ceremony, the closing ceremony was directed byThomas Jolly; he stated that the ceremony would be a "visual, very choreographic, very acrobatic show with an operatic dimension", with a storyline "in which the Olympic Games disappear once again, and someone from far comes along and finds them".[2] In the wake of theopening ceremony controversies, executive director Thierry Reboul stated that the team had been asked to review and revise the closing ceremony a number of times in order to ensure that no scene could be misinterpreted in an offensive manner.[3]
The director of the ceremony said of the event:[4]
I've designed a show in which the Olympic Games disappear once again, and someone from far comes along and founds them. It's a very visual, very choreographic, very acrobatic show with an operatic dimension to give a great visual fresco and say goodbye to athletes from all over the world.
French bandsAir andPhoenix performed during the ceremony; Reboul explained that "today, where we look at the history of music, it's certainly the French music style and the artists behind it, who have had the biggest resonance in the world. So it was important for us to acknowledge it".[5]
In October 2023, British-American producerBen Winston and his studioFulwell 73 were commissioned to produce the cultural presentation by Los Angeles, the host city of 2028.[6]Variety reported that the segment, titled the LA28 Handover Celebration, would feature performances by American artists andLos Angeles County nativesRed Hot Chili Peppers,Snoop Dogg, andBillie Eilish, and include a live stadium appearance by American actorTom Cruise.[7][8]
The closing ceremony took place at theStade de France and, as per tradition, involved a parade of flags and athletes and the handover ceremony.[9] It was officially titled "Records" and paid tribute to Greek antiquity as the birthplace of the "Olympic spirit" as well as portraying the revival of the Olympics by the French baronPierre de Coubertin.[10] It featured over 100 performers, acrobats, dancers and circus artists; about 9,000 athletes took part.
The ceremonies began at theTuileries Garden withZaho de Sagazan and the Haendel-Hendrix Academy Choir singing "Sous le ciel de Paris", originally sung byJean Bretonnière and popularized byÉdith Piaf.[11] TheOlympic cauldron, a light and water display simulating theOlympic flame, was turned off. The actual flame, which was kept nearby in the lantern used to transport it to France aboard theBelem, was taken by French swimmerLéon Marchand, who won four gold medals at the Paris 2024 Games, to the stadium.[12][13][14][15]
In the stadium, where the surface had been made to resemble aplanisphere,[16] the ceremony was accompanied by the Orchestre Divertimento, conducted byZahia Ziouani. AfterIOC PresidentThomas Bach and President of the French RepublicEmmanuel Macron were welcomed, the orchestra played theFrench national anthem, arranged by Victor Le Masne—the same arrangement used during the2020 Summer Olympics closing ceremony three years earlier.[17]
The flag-bearers entered the stadium, with the Greek and Olympic flags (representing the Refugee Olympic Team) entering first and the American and French flags entering last, followed by the athletes grouped into their teams entering in no particular order. The start of the ceremony included expressions of gratitude to the Games' volunteers and audience participation inkaraoke ofJoe Dassin's "Les Champs-Elysées" and a synchronized light show. Other songs, such asCharles Aznavour's "Emmenez-moi",Gala's "Freed From Desire" andQueen's "We Are the Champions", then played in the stadium.[18]
The presentation included the medal ceremony for thewomen’s marathon, which had finished earlier in the day, chosen to commemorate the Olympics’ gender parity for the first time. The top three,Sifan Hassan of the Netherlands,Tigst Assefa of Ethiopia, andHellen Obiri of Kenya, were awarded their medals by IOC President Thomas Bach andWorld Athletics PresidentSebastian Coe.[19] Thenational anthem of the Netherlands was played for Dutch gold medalistSifan Hassan, and the newest inductees to theIOC Athletes' Commission thanked the volunteers.
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Then the cultural segments began, depicting a world where the Olympic Games were lost, and paying homage to the French baron and ParisianPierre de Coubertin, who was instrumental in reviving the Olympics for modern times: the stadium went dark, and a golden-winged humanoid alien named the Golden Voyager (named after the French-madeVoyager Golden Record brought aboard the twoVoyager program space probes, the first man-made objects to leave the heliosphere [itself named after the Greek godHelios]; the organizers also said it represented "the spirit of theBastille" as well as modern depictions of the Greco-Roman godApollo),[20] portrayed by dancerArthur Cadre, descended from its roof onto a white stage shaped like a stylizedworld map.[20] The Golden Voyager encountered and interacted with the masked torchbearer and the hooded horsewoman, the two main characters from theopening ceremony, who presented theflag of Greece. The orchestra and choir then performed an ethereal electronic arrangement of theGreek national anthem. Afterwards, the Golden Voyager, aided by descending dancers and acrobats dressed in grey zentai suits, mimed an archaeological excavation from the stage, revealing a large copy of theWinged Victory of Samothrace statue ofNike, placed in theLouvre main entrance, and five large brass rings.[11][20][12][13][14] Swiss musician and daredevilAlain Roche appeared in a suit made from recycled magnetic tapes, playing the first two stanzas from theDelphic Hymns on a grand piano suspended in midair, with the broad side opened, lit up and facing the audience, as tenorBenjamin Bernheim sang the hymns' lyrics while standing in one of the rings.[21] The rings were then attached to wires and lifted up to form the Olympic rings.
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French bandPhoenix made a showcase withEzra Koenig ofVampire Weekend,Air,Angèle,Vannda, andKavinsky to perform a medley of songs at the main stage.[22] During the performance, numerous athletes climbed onto the stage and danced alongside the performers, which was not authorized by the organizers; loudspeakers ordered the athletes to leave the stage, while security officers and volunteers went up to remove them.[23]
Head ofCOJOPTony Estanguet andPresident of the IOCThomas Bach made their speeches escorted by six Olympic medalists:
Teddy Riner (FRA)
Emma McKeon (AUS)
Sun Yingsha (CHN)
Cindy Ngamba (EOR)
Eliud Kipchoge (KEN)
Mijaín López (CUB)Estanguet opined that the national mood had turned from dour to ecstatic, said the Games were "imperfect" but called them a "huge success" and he had "no regrets", and noted that the Games were marked by the most marriage proposals among participating athletes; he then called for France and the world to join Paris and support the2024 Summer Paralympics.[24][16] Bach said, "Dear French friends, you have fallen in love with the Olympic Games. And we have fallen in love with all of you," thanked theRefugee Olympic Team for their "inspiring" performance, noted the athlete delegations had reached 1:1gender parity, expressed hope for a new generation of IOC leadership, reflected that the Games would be his last, and made a pun that they were "Seine-sational", to much groaning from the audience.[25] TheOlympic Anthem was then performed by the orchestra and the Maîtrise de Fontainebleau children's choir in English,[16] as the Olympic Flag was lowered. The flag will be raised again inMilan andCortina d'Ampezzo, Italy during theopening ceremony atSan Siro on the evening of 6 February 2026.
During the first part of Thomas Bach's speech, Estanguet retrieved the Olympic flag and handed it to the mayor of Paris,Anne Hidalgo. After Bach concluded his speech, the "Antwerp Ceremony" began: Hidalgo handed the flag over to Bach, who then handed the flag to the mayor of Los Angeles,Karen Bass. After waving the flag, she then handed it to American gymnastSimone Biles.[26] This was the second consecutive Olympics in which the Olympic flag was passed between two female mayors, following2020, which was held three years earlier in 2021, where the Governor of Tokyo,Yuriko Koike handed the flag to Hidalgo during the2020 Olympics closing ceremony.[27] Bass was also the first Black female mayor to receive the Olympic flag.[28][29]
TheAmerican flag was then raised to thenational anthem of the United States, performed by R&B singerH.E.R. accompanied by musical director Alonzo Harris. Afterwards, actorTom Cruiseabseiled from the Stade de France roof (to the "Theme fromMission: Impossible" rearranged on guitar, performed by H.E.R.), retrieved the Olympic flag from Mayor Bass and Biles and departed the stadium, carrying it on a motorcycle. A pre-recorded segment depicted Cruise riding through the streets of Paris before boarding a transport plane, skydiving, and delivering the flag to theHollywood Hills where Cruise passed the flag to mountain bikerKate Courtney, then it was relayed to sprinterMichael Johnson and then to skateboarderJagger Eaton. The video showed landmarks such as theHollywood Sign, which was later modified by Cruise to recreate the Olympic rings in the double Os of "Hollywood", and theLos Angeles Memorial Coliseum, which will become the first stadium to host three Olympic Games.[30] This segment was a nod to theU.S. film and television industry which is the United States' biggest cultural export and is heavily based in Los Angeles.
This was followed by another pre-recorded broadcast fromLong Beach, California, featuring performances from theRed Hot Chili Peppers ("By the Way" being heard during the Olympic Flag's journey and "Can't Stop" performed on stage),Billie Eilish with her brotherFinneas O'Connell on guitars ("Birds of a Feather"),[a] andSnoop Dogg andDr. Dre ("Drop It Like It's Hot" by Snoop Dogg alone and "The Next Episode" with Dr. Dre).[33][34] The segment was well-received in the international press for showcasing U.S. entertainment and star power.[35] The entire sequence, including the concert fromLong Beach, was shown on theStade de France's video boards.
The ceremony's penultimate section started with Marchand entering the stadium with the lantern containing the Olympic flame. Bach declared the games officially closed as the two, along with the athletes who escorted him representing the continents and refugees, blew out the flame, similar to the extinguishing act of theAthens 2004 Olympics closing ceremony. Bach then called upon the world's youth to assemble in four years in Los Angeles.[12][13][14] The section ended with a French flag handover, fromAntoine Dupont, closing ceremony flagbearer, to part of theFrench Paralympic team, symbolizing the 16 days of transition from the Olympic Games to theParalympic Games.[36]
The ceremony closed withYseult performing theFrank Sinatra song "My Way", which was adapted to English byPaul Anka[37] from the French song "Comme d'habitude" byClaude François.[38] Afterward, a spectacular fireworks display was set off from the Stade de France roof.
National Anthem of France – Orchestre Divertimento, conducted byZahia Ziouani
National Anthem of Greece – Orchestre Divertimento, conducted by Zahia Ziouani and Maîtrise de Fontainebleau children's choirOlympic Anthem – Maîtrise de Fontainebleau children's choir
National Anthem of the United States –H.E.R.![[icon]](/mt/?noimg=&dark=on&url=http%3a%2f%2fen.wikipedia.org%2fwiki%2fFile%3aWiki_letter_w_cropped.svg) | This section is empty. You can help byadding to it.(December 2024) |
{{cite AV media}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)| Opening ceremonies |
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