Memorable Moments from the 2024 Paris Olympics Closing Ceremony

The 2024 Paris Summer Olympics ended its 19-day competition on Aug. 11 with a blowout at the Stade de France in Saint-Denis, which boasted about 71,500 spectators. 

The first half of the program was made up of acts that paid tribute to the host country and French culture, while the second half was more “Hollywood,” as the next summer Olympics will take place in Los Angeles in 2028.

International Olympic Committee President Thomas Bach commended the athletes for their "Seine-sational Games.”

"Your performances were amazing. You competed fiercely against each other. Every contest on the edge of perfection. Every performance sparking excitement around the world. You showed us what greatness we humans are capable of."

Here’s a rundown of the best moments from the 2024 closing ceremony. 

The music

The closing ceremony is the time for France’s best musical acts to shine. Fans went ballistic for Phoenix, the Grammy Award-winning rock band from Versailles, which played hits “Lisztomania,” “If I Ever Feel Better,” and “1901.”

However, professional musicians were not the only singers at the event. art of a section of the closing ceremony called “Athlete Karaoke,” saw the world’s best athletes belting out Queen’s “We Are the Champions” after processing into the stadium.

The dancing

After some 9,000 athletes paraded into the stadium, a dramatic interpretative dance honoring “the power of diversity and solidarity” opened the event. 

Giant rings were rolled out to represent the formation of Olympic rings, and actors were doing handstands inside the giant rings. 

Alain Roche played the piano vertically while suspended in the air.

The Hollywood treatment 

To represent the passing of the torch to the next Summer Olympics host city Los Angeles, Thomas Bach, the head of the International Olympic Committee, handed the Olympic flag to Karen Bass, the first female mayor of Los Angeles. Simone Biles, the most decorated U.S. gymnast ever, was on stage to represent the U.S. for the handoff. Then five-time Grammy Award winner known as “H.E.R.” sang the national anthem.

Cameras switched to Tom Cruise, who was standing on a ledge on top of the stadium. He was lowered down to the stage by cables. He shook hands with Bass and gymnast Simone Biles, who handed the Olympic flag to Cruise, which he attached to the back of a motorcycle and sped off. Footage of Cruise cruising down the streets of Paris and then jumping out of an airplane in a short stunt-filled, pre-filmed montage, played out like an action thriller. He was shown unveiling a version of the Hollywood sign with the two “oo”s before the “d” was replaced with the multicolored Olympic rings.

The flag was transported via skateboard to a stage on a palm tree-lined beach, where Grammy Award winners were on stage to greet the flag. Red Hot Chili Peppers performed “Can’t Stop” and Billie Eilish performed “Birds of a Feather.” Eilish was dressed in an oversized shirt meant to look like the red-white-and-blue Ralph Lauren polo shirts that the U.S. Olympians were wearing. Then Snoop Dogg, in a red-white-and-blue blazer, performed a snippet of “Drop It Like It’s Hot,” and then was joined by Dr. Dre for his hit “The Next Episode.”

The closing ceremony ended with an electrifying rendition of Frank Sinatra’s “My Way” by the French singer Yseult.

Those with Olympic fever won’t have to wait four more years for another Olympics games. The next Olympics will take place in Italy in 2026—all winter sports—and the Olympics return to France in 2030, also winter games.