Remarkable images from the Paris Olympics

  • By the Visual Journalism Team
  • Paris 2024

The Paris Olympics has come to an end in a captivating closing ceremony in the French capital, bringing down the curtain on 16 days of thrilling action.

Formation and raising of the Olympic Rings during the closing ceremony - 11 August 2024
The Golden Voyager descends on to the stage at the Olympics closing ceremony - 11 August 2024 Performers during the closing ceremony of the Olympic Games - 11 August 2024

More than 10,000 athletes competed in Paris across hundreds of events in a hugely entertaining Olympic Games.

USA's Sunisa Lee competes in the uneven bars event of the artistic gymnastics
Kurtis Mathews of Australia in action in the Diving - Men's 3m Springboard Semifinal at the Aquatics Centre, Saint-Denis, France. Multiple exposure picture of the Chinese Chuqin Wang during his quarterfinal match against Woojin Jang of South Korea.
Germany's Bo Kanda Lita Baehre runs in the men's pole vault final

The city's landmarks provided an enthralling backdrop for many of the events.

Argentina's Jose Torres Gil takes part in a BMX freestyle training session at La Concorde in Paris Japan's Koki Kano and Hungary's Tibor Andrasfi compete in the men's epee individual semi-final bout at the Grand Palais in Paris
The Eiffel tower at sunset during a Men's Round of 16 match between Brazil and the Netherlands Remco Evenepoel from Belgium, cycles through the Moulin Rouge with Can Can dancers performing in the background
US' Bryce Wettstein competes in the women's park skateboarding final during the Paris 2024 Olympic Games at La Concorde in Paris

Some events were held outside the capital, with the sailing and windsurfing in the Bay of Marseilles and the surfing contest almost 10,000 miles away in Tahiti, French Polynesia.

Hermann Tomasgaard of Norway competes in the Men's Dinghy Medal Race in Marseille Marina. Brazil's Gabriel Medina caught in mid air reacting after getting a large wave in the 5th heat of the men's surfing Underwater picture of French surfer Aelan Vaast

For the athletes, the Games was the culmination of years of training and sacrifice.

Simone Biles is captured upside-down while performing a somersault during the final of the women's individual beam.
Canada's Krissy Scurfield tackles New Zealand's Jazmin Felix-Hotham during a rugby sevens match Armenia's Davit Chaloyan takes a punch from Britain's Delicious Orie in a boxing match
Azerbaijan's Mariya Stadnik and Mongolia's Otgonjargal Dolgorjav (L) in their women's freestyle 50kg wrestling quarter-final match

For some the hard work paid off.

Valarie Allman representing the USA reacts in the women's discus throw final of the athletics event
USA’s Lauren Scruggs celebrates victory over Italy during the women’s foil team final Republic of Korea's Se Young An celebrates during the women's badminton singles semifinal

But for others the Games ended in heartbreak.

Serbia's Marica Perisic reacts after losing her judo bout Norway's Sondre Guttormsen lies on the floor with his hand held out in the men's pole vault final

After the drama and emotion of the Olympics, the countdown now begins for the Paralympic Games, which begins on 28 August and is also being held in Paris.

Japan's Yuto Horigome competes in the men's street skateboarding final Mexico's Gabriela Agundez Garcia and Alejandra Orozco Loza compete in the women's synchronised 10m platform diving final
A sunbeam illuminates Evelis Aguilar of Team Colombia and Lauren Gale of Team Canada as they compete during the Women's 400m Round 1 Britain's Kieran Darren David Reilly competes in the Men's Cycling BMX Freestyle Park Final
USA's Bam Adebayo goes for a rebound in the men's preliminary round group C basketball match with Serbia Japan's Miu Hirano eyes the ball as she prepares to serve in a women's table tennis match
long exposure photo shows Sunisa Lee of USA in the Artistic Gymnastics Women's Team Final Team France compete in the team free routine of the artistic swimming event at the Aquatics Centre in Saint-Denis Overhead shot of Summer McIntosh of Team Canada competing in the Women's 200m Butterfly Heats An underwater view shows Bulgaria's Petar Petrov Mitsin competing in a heat of the men's 200m butterfly swimming The moon is pictured through the Olympic rings displayed on the Eiffel tower

Contributors

Production and picture editing by Chris Clayton, Pip Joy, Paul Sargeant, Carla Rosch, Rafael Chacon and Mike Hills. Development by Ayu Widyaningsih Idjaja.

Images

Anushree Fadnavis/Reuters, Phil Noble/Reuters, David Fitzgerald/Getty Images, Clive Rose/Getty Images, Aytac Unal/Anadolu, Ben Stansall/AFP, Al Bello/Getty Images, Jung Yeon-Je/AFP, Paul Ellis/AFP, Naomi Baker/Getty Images, Sameer Al-Doumy/Pool/AFP, Jeff Pachoud/AFP, Franck Fife/AFP, John MacDougall/AFP, Jeff Pachoud/AFP, Christophe Simon/AFP, Ricardo Mazalan/Pool/ AFP, Jerome Brouillet/AFP, Ben Thouard/AFP, Carl De Souza/AFP, Mohd Rasfan/AFP, Damien Meyer/AFP, David Gray/AFP, Fabrice Coffrini/AFP, Sebastien Bozon/AFP, Luis Robayo/AFP, Alex Gottschalk/DeFodi Images, Lionel Bonaventure/AFP, Odd Andersen/AFP, Oli Scarff/AFP, Loic Venance/AFP, Dylan Martinez/Reuters, John Walton/PA Media, Loic Venance/AFP, Reuters/Ueslei Marcelino, Reuters/Angelika Warmuth, Fabrice Coffrin/AFP, Elsa/Getty Images, Maja Hitij/Getty Images, Jamie Squire/Getty Images, Naomi Baker/Getty Images, Michael Reaves/Getty Images, Kudryavstev/Getty Images, Ben Stansall/Getty Images, Cameron Spencer/Getty images, Odd Andersen/AFP, Hannah Mckay/Reuters, Kim Hong-Ji/Reuters, Punit Paranjpe/AFP, Oli Scarff/AFP, Andrew Boyers/Reuters

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