The family holiday in Croatia can wait – Kaylee McKeown is needed back in Paris.

The swimmer will be alongside sailor Matt Wearn as the Australian flag bearers at the Olympic closing ceremony.

McKeown was having a post-Games break in Croatia when Australian chef de mission Anna Meares rang with the offer.

“When Anna asked the question, I responded ‘are you serious?'” McKeown said.

“Mum goes ‘wait, what ya kidding?’. Everyone was just completely in shock. They were obviously extremely proud.

“There are so many athletes that deserve the same honour and opportunity. This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity and I couldn’t be more thankful.”

Wearn has come from the Olympic sailing venue at Marseille to Paris with his Belgian wife Emma, also a sailor at the Games.

“We’ve had a few tears in our eyes, we both know what it means to represent our country, and how much of an honour this is,” Wearn said.

“There’s a few tears shed, it’s still sinking in. Emma keeps repeating it, that I’m going to carry the flag, but it doesn’t seem real yet.”

The two flag bearers made history at the Paris Games, with McKeown becoming Australia’s first four-time individual gold medallist when the swimmer defended her 100m and 200m backstroke titles.

Wearn is the first sailor to successfully defend the Olympic men’s dinghy title, having recovered from a bad bout of long COVID-19 two years ago.

“Kaylee’s performances speak for themselves, to become Australia’s first four-time individual Olympic champion is extraordinary,” Meares said.

“Her results are exceptional but her character, her personality and her charm really resonate with what makes this Australian Olympic team so special.

“Matt has shown incredible resilience to defend his Olympic title.

“Understanding the challenges he has overcome to be here in Paris is a great testament to the athlete and person Matt is.

“He is very humble, despite making Olympic history as the first man to win the laser class back-to-back.”

Meares said she had struggled over her choices.

“I couldn’t go past Kaylee … yes there are great champions on that list, including Arnie (Ariane Titmus), including Emma (McKeon), including Saya (Sakakibara),” she said.

“I love the quirkiness and character of Kaylee. I love that she is unapologetically Kaylee … our athletes will have a lot of fun with her at the closing ceremony.

“For Matt Wearn – an incredible human being. You could walk past him in the street and not even know he’s the only person in the world at Olympic level … to defend a (dinghy) gold medal. That speaks for itself.”

Australia has won a record 18 gold medals at the Paris Olympics.

Canoe slalom great Jess Fox and hockey veteran Eddie Ockenden were the Australian flag bearers at the opening ceremony.

Stressful, but we did it: Organisers

What started with a major security scare and torrential rain that threatened the smooth running of the elaborate opening ceremony and swimming events being held in the Seine, ended with the river playing its expected central part in the Olympics.

Paris 2024 organising committee president Tony Estanguet said it had been stressful and adjustments had had to be made.

But the triple Olympic champion was beaming with pride as he reflected on Saturday on a successful Games.

“The ambition we had was worth fighting for, we made strong choices, bold choices that are not always the easiest ones,” Estanguet told reporters a day before the closing ceremony.

The Games, with iconic Parisian landmarks integrated in many urban competition venues, have scored strong ratings in key markets, including in the United States for rights holder NBCUniversal, the biggest single source of revenues for the International Olympic Committee.

Organisers had decided marathon swimming and the swimming legs of the triathlon would take place on the Seine, just like the globally acclaimed opening ceremony – the first time one had been held outside a stadium.

And while training sessions and were delayed and the men’s triathlon was pushed back due to concerns over the water quality after heavy rain, the events scheduled to happen in the river went ahead.

“Swimming in the river Seine, we have faced challenges but we did it, we delivered this ambition, that’s why it’s a fantastic success so far,” Estanguet said.

“We’ve had so much rain (on opening ceremony day), it was not the plan.

“We had anticipated some rain but we’ve had to adjust in the final hours and change a lot of things so that this ceremony could happen.

“Yes, I was stressed because I did not know to what extent the artists would manage to adapt to these crazy condition. It was quite an achievement from them.

Paris 2024 chief executive officer Etiene Thobois said contigency plans were vital in ensuring a successful Games.

“There were moments of stress but everyone reacted with professionalism, the preparation work was perfect,” he said.

Security was another major challenge.

Saboteurs struck France’s TGV high-speed train network in a series of pre-dawn attacks across the country, causing travel chaos on the morning of the opening ceremony.

“Let’s remember those attacks, we responded swiftly, the accreditation system was impacted (by a cyber attack) but we solved the problem within four hours,” Thobois said.

The Games were also rated as a success by the IOC, with Paris Games coordination commission chief Pierre-Olivier Beckers-Vieujant praising organisers for the venues, full stadiums and satisfying global ratings.

“If there had been an audacious, daring script for these Games it would have read like that. These Games have set a high benchmark,” he said.

“The Games have truly been embraced by Parisians … indeed by the whole world.

“More than half of the worldwide population will have followed in some form the Olympic Games over the past two weeks.”

—with AAP