In Paris

After 16 days of first-class action, the curtains were drawn on the 2024 Paris Olympic Games on Sunday night with the Olympic flag handed over to 2028 hosts Los Angeles who promised to bring “freshness and innovation” to the Games.

And last night, Team Kenya athletes, including the medallists, were being treated to a red-carpet reception by the City of Miramas that hosted the team for pre-Olympics training camps hailed by the athletes as extremely useful.
Ferdinand Omanyala-led sprinters, the men’s sevens rugby team, swimmer Maria Brunlehner, judoka Zeddy Cherotich, former world javelin champion Julius Yego and the women’s volleyball team “Malkia Strikers” all pitched camp in Miramas before moving into the Paris Olympic Village.

Miramas residents were lining up early to greet the medallists, who included the golden trio of Beatrice Chebet (5,000m, 10,000m), Faith Kipyegon (1,500m, silver in 5,000m) and Emmanuel Wanyonyi (800m).

Kenya topped the African Nations on the medals table with 11 medals – four gold, two silver and five bronze.
The other medallists were Ronald Kwemoi (silver, 5,000m), Faith Cherotich (bronze, steeplechase), Abraham Kibiwot (bronze, steeplechase), Mary Moraa (Bronze, 800m), Hellen Obiri (bronze, marathon) and Benson Kipruto (bronze, marathon).

The Team Kenya champions are expected to land at the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport at 8:30pm Wednesday with a huge reception planned.

At a futuristic closing ceremony held at the Stade de France – which was the venue of seven rugby and athletics competitions of the 33rd Olympics - on Sunday night, International Olympic Committee President Thomas Bach said the Games continue to inspire billions around the world and can be a useful vehicle in sustaining global peace.

“We know that the Olympic Games cannot create peace. But the Olympic Games can create a culture of peace that inspires the world. This is why I call on everyone who shares this Olympic spirit: let us live this culture of peace every single day,” Bach, a former Olympian said at the ceremony also attended by French President Emmanuel Macron, the President of the Paris 2024 Organising Committee, Tony Estanguet, and Anne Hidalgo, the Mayor of Paris.

Kenyan distance running legend Eliud Kipchoge was also on the VVIP podium representing athletes from Africa.

Organisers disclosed that during the Games, 1.4 million visitors experienced the Parisian festivity sites with more expected during the Paralympic Games programme from August 28 through to September 8.

Kenya’s team to the Paralympics has already arrived in France for a pre-Paralympics training camp.

The 2028 Los Angeles Olympic Games will be the third edition in the west coast city that also hosted the Games in 1984 and 1932, but it will be the first time for LA to host the Paralympic Games.

Five new Olympic sports, including baseball/softball, lacrosse and cricket, will be added onto the LA programme with Flag Football (a version of American football) and squash also making their Olympic debut. 

“Our team is hard at work to ensure the unparalleled natural beauty, culture and global identity of LA is an indelible part of the Games. And over the next four years, we invite all of you to join the journey toward LA28 - an event that will positively impact Angelenos and the generations to come,” Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass said on Sunday.

Casey Wasserman, Chairperson and President of LA28 said the Games “will showcase LA’s unique energy and rich Olympic history.”

“LA28 is embracing its position at the epicenter of sport, culture and creativity to showcase how the Games can reach beyond the field of play and inspire and engage future generations of athletes, artists and the Los Angeles community,” Wasserman said. 

Sunday’s closing ceremony, put together by French theatre director Thomas Jolly, started with a musical performance in the shape of an ode the Games’ host city. 

After a unique journey during the Opening Ceremony - it travelled up the Seine with the masked Torchbearer to the Trocadéro and then on to the Jardin des Tuileries with French and international sporting legends - this time the Olympic Flame went in the opposite direction, towards the Stade de France.

The French flag then entered the stadium, carried by members of several corps of the French Army and was raised while the French National Anthem, the Marseillaise, was sung by the Maîtrise de Fontainebleau accompanied by the Orchestre Divertimento, under the baton of conductor Zahia Ziouani.

Flagbearers and the Parade of Athletes were the ultimate celebration of the heroes of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games. 

This first festive moment of the ceremony allowed the public to connect with those who have exemplified excellence, self-improvement and respect throughout the competition. 

The flagbearers of each of the 205 delegations entered the stadium and paraded on the stage, in the centre of the stadium, that symbolically represented a planisphere.

For the first time, the Women's Marathon concluded the Olympic Games programme and the final victory ceremony brought the Games’ action to an end with Dutchwoman Sifan Hassan proudly standing tall as winner of the challenging women’s marathon race as the Dutch national anthem was played. Ethiopia’s silver medallist and world record holder Tgist Assefa and Kenya’s bronze medallist, two-time Boston Marathon champion and once New York Marathon winner, Hellen Obiri, stood beside Sifan.

“Mission Impossible” and “Top Gun” superstar actor and stuntman Tom Cruise dived into closing ceremony in jaw-dropping stunt as Los Angeles-based musicians Snoop Dogg, Billie Eilish and Red Hot Chili Peppers performed as a tribute to LA28, a fitting closure to 16 days of high-adrenalin action.