After 18 days, 329 gold, silver and bronze medals and countless storylines, the 2024 Olympics drew to a close on Sunday with a high-budget closing ceremony.

The occasion began in earnest when Leon Marchand, the French swimmer who became the most-decorated athlete of the Games with four gold medals and a bronze, picked up the Olympic Cauldron as a choir sang an Edith Piaf number.

As Marchand appeared on the big screen, the crowd in the Stade de France showed their appreciation, before a significant proportion of the 10,500 or so athletes who appeared at the Games entered the arena.

Among the flag bearers were Algeria's........

© Deutsche Welle