From Simone Biles, Sifan Hassan and Katie Ledecky to Léon Marchand, Mijain Lopez and Stephen Curry - the 16 days of Paris Olympics sport delivered just as sensationally as the French capital.
Paris dressed itself up and made the most of its iconic landmarks, from the Eiffel Tower to the Grand Palais, as it welcomed more than 10,000 athletes from 200+ countries to its third Games.
And there were millions of fans, from France and around the world, who created a party-like atmosphere in a welcoming return to normal after the Covid-marred and delayed Tokyo 2020 Games.
The virus was however still present and affected athletes led by 100-metre gold medallist Noah Lyles of the US.
Breaking and canoe cross made their Olympic debuts as Games organizers continue attempts to appeal to a younger audience.
A unique opening ceremony held outside a stadium on and along the Seine got things going in spectacular fashion.
The only dampener was the pouring rain, which led to a drop in water quality in the polluted river, and as a result delays in triathlon and open water swimming which were controversially held in the Seine.
Illnesses followed and the issue overshadowed the Games just like the boxing gender controversy around eventual female gold medallists Lin Yu Ting of Taiwan and Algeria’s Imane Khelif, who were cleared to compete in Paris after being disqualified at the last world championships.
La Grande Nation delivers
But the overall mood was excitement as France united behind its team after weeks of political turmoil and a snap election and cheered it to fifth in the final medals table, almost doubling its Tokyo tally with 64 medals, 16 of them gold.
Rugby superstar Antoine Dupont got things going before new icon Marchand added four golds and a bronze in the pool, including an unprecedented breaststroke and butterfly double, and fans rephrased the national anthem in his honour.
National icon Teddy Riner first lit the Olympic cauldron at the opening ceremony and then the judo mat with two final golds.
“It has been unbelievable for me this week. I am enjoying every moment of it and this crowd was crazy. I was enjoying everything, it was so cool,” the Games poster boy Marchand said.
Multi medallists and records Marchand was the most successful athlete overall, ahead of American swimmer Torri Huske who had three golds and two silvers.
In all, 10 athletes left Paris with three golds, including American sprinter Gabby Thomas and New Zealand paddler Lisa Carrington who now has eight golds overall.
American swimmer Ledecky got a women’s record equalling ninth overall gold and joined an elite group of athletes on four golds in the same event.
However, that mark was swiftly bettered to five by the Cuban wrestling legend Lopez.
He was then among those who ended their career in Paris, with others including former tennis greats Andy Murray of Britain and Angelique Kerber of Germany.
Biles was arguably the biggest star and drew celebrities galore to the gymnastics where she rebounded from her Tokyo twisties with triple gold and a silver.
“It’s been up-and-down emotions. I couldn’t be more proud of the performances that I put on,” Biles said.
“It’s been a long week, competing several times, so I’m not mad about how I performed. It’s a lot of work and it’s paid off.”
US top overall again
A team event record eighth straight women’s basketball title in the final medal event, after the men also won led by Curry to give Kevin Durant a fourth gold, saw the US edge China for first place in the medal table with a 40-44-42 haul.
China finished on 40-27-24 and return home having swept the eight diving and five table tennis events for the first time.
In all, 84 nations medalled, with St Lucia among those getting a first ever - a gold in the blue riband women’s 100m sprint from Julien Alfred. The refugee team also made a first podium thanks to boxing bronze medallist Cindy Ngamba.
Not listed in the medals table were the neutral athletes from Russia and Belarus who however also made the podium. Ukraine got 12 medals, including three golds, to give its people hope amid the ongoing Russian invasion.
More memorable performances Lyles beat Jamaica’s Kishane Thompson by a mere five-thousandths in the fastest overall men’s 100 final in which 9.91 seconds was only good enough for last place as the eight finalists were separated by just 12-hundredths.
Dutch runner Hassan meanwhile immortalized herself in the distance events when she got marathon gold 36 hours after 10,000m bronze, having also earned 5,000m bronze.
It was only fitting that her victory ceremony was part of the closing ceremony.
Records tumbled across the board but none appeared sweeter and at the same time more predictable than the world record 6.25m in the pole vault from Sweden’s Armand Duplantis.
Duplantis celebrated by mimicking Turkish silver medallist shooter Yusuf Dikec, who arguably was the Games’ biggest social media sensation for competing in a regular t-shirt, without special glasses, and one hand in his pocket.
(DPA)
