The closing ceremony took place at the
Stade de France and, as per tradition, involved a parade of flags and athletes and the handover ceremony. 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 baron
Pierre de Coubertin. It featured over 100 performers, acrobats, dancers and circus artists; about 9,000 athletes took part.
Prelude The ceremonies began at the
Tuileries Garden with
Zaho de Sagazan and the Haendel-Hendrix Academy Choir singing "
Sous le ciel de Paris", originally sung by
Jean Bretonnière and popularized by
Édith Piaf.
Parade of flag bearers In the stadium, where the surface had been made to resemble a
planisphere, the ceremony was accompanied by the Orchestre Divertimento, conducted by
Zahia Ziouani. After
IOC President Thomas Bach and President of the French Republic
Emmanuel Macron were welcomed, the orchestra played the
French national anthem, arranged by Victor Le Masne—the same arrangement used during the
2020 Summer Olympics closing ceremony three years earlier. 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 in
karaoke of
Joe Dassin's "
Les Champs-Elysées" and a synchronized light show. Other songs, such as
Charles Aznavour's "Emmenez-moi",
Gala's "
Freed From Desire" and
Queen's "
We Are the Champions", then played in the stadium.
Marathon medal ceremony The presentation included the medal ceremony for the
women’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, and
Hellen Obiri of Kenya, were awarded their medals by IOC President Thomas Bach and
World Athletics President
Sebastian Coe. The
national anthem of the Netherlands was played for Dutch gold medalist
Sifan Hassan, and the newest inductees to the
IOC Athletes' Commission thanked the volunteers. ;Women's marathon medalists • • •
Records Then the cultural segments began, depicting a world where the Olympic Games were lost, and paying homage to the French baron and Parisian
Pierre 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-made
Voyager Golden Record brought aboard the two
Voyager program space probes, the first man-made objects to leave the heliosphere [itself named after the Greek god
Helios]; the organizers also said it represented "the spirit of the
Bastille" as well as modern depictions of the Greco-Roman god
Apollo), The rings were then attached to wires and lifted up to form the Olympic rings.
Concert segments (pictured in 2018) French band
Phoenix made a showcase with
Ezra Koenig of
Vampire Weekend,
Air,
Angèle,
Vannda, and
Kavinsky to perform a medley of songs at the main stage. 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.
Protocolar segments Head of
COJOP Tony Estanguet and
President of the IOC Thomas Bach made their speeches escorted by six Olympic medalists: •
Europe: •
Oceania: •
Asia: •
IOC Refugee Olympic Team: •
Africa: •
Americas: 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 the
2024 Summer Paralympics. The
Olympic Anthem was then performed by the orchestra and the Maîtrise de Fontainebleau children's choir in English, This was the second consecutive Olympics in which the Olympic flag was passed between two female mayors, following
2020, which was held three years earlier in 2021, where the Governor of Tokyo,
Yuriko Koike handed the flag to Hidalgo during the
2020 Olympics closing ceremony. Bass was also the first Black female mayor to receive the Olympic flag. The
American flag was then raised to the
national anthem of the United States, performed by R&B singer
H.E.R. accompanied by musical director Alonzo Harris. Afterwards, actor
Tom Cruise abseiled from the Stade de France roof (to the "
Theme from Mission: 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 the
Hollywood Hills where Cruise passed the flag to mountain biker
Kate Courtney, then it was relayed to sprinter
Michael Johnson and then to skateboarder
Jagger Eaton. The video showed landmarks such as the
Hollywood Sign, which was later modified by Cruise to recreate the Olympic rings in the double Os of "Hollywood", and the
Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, which will become the first stadium to host three Olympic Games. This segment was a nod to the
U.S. film and television industry which is the United States' biggest cultural export and is heavily based in Los Angeles. This was followed by a broadcast from
Long Beach, California, featuring performances from the
Red 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 brother
Finneas O'Connell on guitars ("
Birds of a Feather"), and
Snoop Dogg and
Dr. Dre ("
Drop It Like It's Hot" by Snoop Dogg alone and "
The Next Episode" with Dr. Dre). The segment was well-received in the international press for showcasing U.S. entertainment and star power. The entire sequence, including the concert from
Long Beach, was shown on the
Stade de France's video boards.
Extinguishing the Olympic flame 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 the
Athens 2004 Olympics closing ceremony. Bach then called upon the world's youth to assemble in four years in Los Angeles.
Finale The ceremony closed with
Yseult performing the
Frank Sinatra song "
My Way", which was adapted to English by
Paul Anka from the French song "
Comme d'habitude" by
Claude François. Afterward, a spectacular fireworks display was set off from the Stade de France roof. ==Anthems==