Paris has brought down the curtain on its wonderful Olympic Games as Australia’s record-breaking team descended in force on the Stade de France to deservedly revel one last time in a celebratory closing ceremony.

A huge contingent from the squad who will bring home a record 18 gold medals, the fourth-highest tally of any nation at the Games, turned out to dance the night away as Paris handed over hosting duties to Los Angeles in 2028.

The Australian athletes were led by their flagbearers, the 28-year-old repeat champion sailor Matt Wearn, who’d achieved his victory in the Marseille regatta, and double gold medallist from the pool, the great Kaylee McKeown.

They were followed in the parade of champions by a host of other victors, including golden girl, double canoe slalom champion Jess Fox, who was later introduced to the 80,000 crowd as one of the new members of the IOC Athletes Commission.

Dual gold medallist Jessica Fox with Team Australia at Stade de France. Photo: Getty

The Aussies were in understandably buoyant mood as they danced on the track to Freed from Desire, amid the extraordinary sight of thousands of the world’s top athletes bouncing up and down in unison to the Gala hit.

There was plenty of reason to celebrate, with the team finishing fourth on the medal table with the 18 golds – eclipsing the previous best 17 from Athens 2004 and Tokyo 2020. The 53-medal haul was Australia’s best in a Games not held in a home city.

The biggest star in the early stages of the ceremony, though, wasn’t even in the stadium.

A huge cheer went up when French swimmer Leon Marchand, a sensational four-time champ in Paris, was shown on the big screen, dressed in his suit and tie, collecting the Olympic flame from outside the Louvre to bring to the Stade.

Unique acrobatics in Stade de France. Photo: Getty

Later, Hollywood glitz took centre stage for the handover with the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Billie Eilish and Snoop Dogg ready to perform.

Tom Cruise also played a part, diving into the stadium and taking the Olympic flag for Los Angeles. There seemed universal agreement that it was likely to be mission impossible for Los Angeles to top these most magnifique of Games.

Tom Cruise lands from the roof in an electric stunt. Photo: Getty

Shortly after French President Emmanuel Macron and International Olympic Committee president Thomas Bach had taken their seats, the ceremony opened with a singer belting out Under the skies of Paris — sung in the past by Edith Piaf and others.

There, the Olympic cauldron — powered by electricity instead of fossil fuels — had lit up the French capital for the duration of the Games, thrilling crowds by rising into the skies on a balloon every night.

The French capital made spectacular use of its cityscape for its first Games in 100 years. The Eiffel Tower and other famous monuments became Olympic stars in their own right, serving as backdrops and in some cases venues for competitions.

The audience was expected to top 70,000 people.

As night fell, athletes marched into the stadium waving the flags of their 205 countries and territories – a display of global unity in a world gripped by global tensions and conflicts, including in Ukraine and Gaza. The stadium screens carried the words, “Together, united for peace”.

With the 329 medal events finished, the expected 9000 athletes – many wearing their shiny medals – and team staffers who filled the arena danced and cheered to the thumping beats.

American singer H.E.R performs the US national anthem. Photo: Getty

The stadium, France’s largest, was one of the targets of Islamic State gunmen and suicide bombers who killed 130 people in and around Paris on November 13, 2015.

The joy and celebrations that swept Paris during the Games as Marchand and other French athletes racked up 64 medals – 16 of them gold – marked a major watershed in the city’s recovery from that night of terror.

The closing ceremony was also when the last medals – each embedded with a chunk of the Eiffel Tower – were hung around athletes’ necks.

Fireworks over the Olympic Rings at the closing ceremony. Photo: Getty

Fittingly for the first Olympics that aimed for gender parity, they were all women – the gold, silver and bronze winners from the marathon earlier on Sunday.

The race – won by Sifan Hassan of the Netherlands – took the spot of the men’s race that traditionally closed previous Games. In Paris, the men were bumped to the final Saturday, with Ethiopia’s Tamirat Tola taking gold.

Marathon winners Sifan Hassan, from the Netherlands, Ethiopia’s Tigst Assefa (left) and Kenya’s bronze medallist Hellen Obiri at the closing ceremony. Photo: Getty

The switch was part of efforts in Paris to make the Olympic spotlight shine more brightly on the sporting feats of women. Paris was also where women first made their Olympic debut, at the 1900 Games.

The US team again topped the medal table, with 126 in all and 40 of them gold. Three were courtesy of gymnast Simone Biles, who made a resounding return to the top of the Olympic podium after prioritising her mental health instead of competition in Tokyo in 2021.