Sunday night’s action-packed closing celebration shined as Paris bid the Olympic Games adieu.
With the mission impossible theme blaring, America’s superstar stuntman, Tom Cruise, abseiled into the stadium, mounted a Harley Davidson motorcycle affixed with an Olympic flag, and zipped out of the venue. From there, pre-recorded clips followed his journey to Hollywood, where Cruise passed on the Olympic flag to Los Angeles for 2028. American pop acts followed as Billie Eilish, Snoop Dogg, and the Red Hot Chilli Peppers rounded out the show from LA.
Tom Cruise and rock ‘n’ roll made for a more entertaining evening than the acts of the boring, pretentious, and, some would add, frankly blasphemous opening ceremony.
Luckily, the bulk of the Olympics embodied the spirit of the finale. Among the Hound’s favourite moments of the Games were watching the ecstasy which overtook St.Lucia following the Caribbean nation’s first ever medal, America’s top gymnasts “bowing down” to Brazil’s floor champion Rebeca Andrade, Chinese gymnast Zhou Yaqin’s endearing medal bite, and Brazilian surfer Gabriel Medina’s mesmerising “number 1” pose as he floated metres above the Tahiti waves.
Equally entertaining was the “bulge” that ruined France’s pole-vaulting hopes, and Australia’s comically bad attempt at break dancing.
While team Great Britain avoided any such embarrassment, the overall results were mixed. Despite GB’s impressive third place in the total medal count, the team faltered in golds, slipping to seventh behind the Netherlands, France, Australia and others.
There is still plenty to celebrate. Keely Hodgkinson dominated the 800m, Alex Yee persevered to triumph in the triathlon, and 19-year-old Toby Roberts achieved the nation’s first-ever sport climbing gold medal. Britain’s Olympics legends Tom Daley and Andy Murray also made valiant efforts in their last games, capping remarkable careers in their respective sports.
The Prince and Princess of Wales joined a host of British celebrities – and, curiously, Snoop Dogg – in offering their congratulations to Britain’s victorious athletes.
That’s not to say the Olympics were all fun and games. Aside from the opening ceremony debacle, the Seine never appeared convincingly clean enough to justify the swim competitions and is now being blamed with making a Belgian athlete ill. Additionally, a controversy over the gender of Algerian gold-medalist boxer Imane Khelif marred the event, and the IOC is facing major scrutiny for stripping a Romanian gymnast her medal, giving it to an American, and then reversing the decision a week later.
Hiccups aside, the Olympic Games offered the world awe-inspiring entertainment, avoided any serious moments of insecurity – as was predicted – and provided the world with a glimmer of hope in the midst of ceaseless wars and global instability.
President of the IOC, Thomas Bach, perhaps put it best saying,
“During all this time, you lived peacefully together under one roof in the Olympic Village. You embraced each other. You respected each other, even if your countries are divided by war and conflict. You created a culture of peace… Thank you for making us believe in a better world for everyone.”
Write to us with your comments to be considered for publication at letters@reaction.life
