A short show of fireworks in the night sky of the City of Lights. Photo: AFP / Yomiuri
Paris has passed the baton to Los Angeles as New Zealand athletes return home with a spectacular medal haul.
Even Donald Trump was impressed.
The closing ceremony featured a dazzling mix of culture, sport and Hollywood razzamatazz - a sign of what the 34th Olympiad in 2028 might hold.
Let's take a look back at a ceremony in the Stade de France which has also hosted rugby sevens and athletics over the course of the Games. Today enthusiastic athletes were applauded and a few even got the chance for a close encounter with Top Gun Tom Cruise.
French superstar swimmer Leon Marchand kicked things off with the Olympic torch at the Jardins des Tuileries which he then transferred to the main stadium. Photo: AFP / Agence KMSP
Kiwi athletes, with flag bearers Dame Lisa Carrington and Finn Butcher at the front, assemble ahead of the ceremony. Photo: NZ Olympics team
Japanese athletes enjoy the welcome. Photo: AFP
Chinese team-mates take time for a selfie. Photo: AFP
France's rugby sevens gold medallist Antoine Dupont and cyclist Pauline Ferrand-Prevot who won gold in the mountain bike wave the French national flag. Photo: AFP
Athletes celebrate during show of the closing ceremony of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games at the Stade de France, in Saint-Denis. Photo: DIMITAR DILKOFF
The Kiwis were out in force. Photo: NZ Olympics team
Photo: AFP
A scene from the closing. Photo: AGENCE KMSP / AFP
A statue of the Golden voyager descends from the sky. Photo: AFP
There was a sci-fi theme to the main sequence. Photo: AFP
French pianist Alain Roche plays the 'Hymne to Apollo' to accompany French lyric tenor Benjamin Bernheim. Photo: AFP
A performer dressed as the Golden voyager performs. Photo: AFP
Tom Cruise prepares to grab the spotlight, asbseiling 50 metres down from the Stade de France roof. Photo: POOL / AFP
Cruise makes his dramatic entry. Photo: AFP
And then grabs the Olympic flag to race out of the stadium on a motorbike to help transfer it to Los Angeles. Photo: AFP / FRANCK FIFE
Fireworks in the sky in the City of Lights. Photo: AFP
Fireworks make for a stunning ending to the 33rd Olympic Games. Photo: ©INPHO/Ryan Byrne / Photosport
