France Bids Reluctant Farewell To Dazzling Paris Olympics 2024

France bid a reluctant farewell on Monday to an "enchanted" fortnight of Olympic sport as athletes headed home from Paris praising a dazzling edition of the Games that has breathed new life into the biggest show on earth. Hollywood star Tom Cruise delivered stardust at the closing ceremony on Sunday evening -- and a link with the next Games in Los Angeles -- by abseiling into the national stadium.  The "Mission Impossible" star descended on a wire in front of 71,500 spectators, grabbed the Olympic flag and jumped onto a motorbike, to the delight of thousands of dancing athletes and awe-struck fans. The final act of the Paris Olympics brought relief that an event foreshadowed by worries about terror attacks, strikes or protests had passed off with barely a hitch.

But there was also sadness that two weeks of high-spirited celebration had come to an end. 

"Keep the flame alive," urged the front-page headline of France's biggest sports newspaper, L'Equipe, which featured new national swimming hero Leon Marchand and urged French people to maintain the spirit "of this enchanted fortnight".

At the Athletes' Village in northern Paris, bleary-eyed athletes were packing their bags after a late night, with the French capital's two main airports braced for a huge influx of travellers and sports equipment.

Magda Skarbonkiewicz, a Team USA fencer, said she would return home filled with memories of competing inside the Grand Palais, one of the historic venues used around the French capital. 

"It's such an iconic venue and just nothing like I've ever seen before," she told AFP. 

Many of the widely praised temporary sports stadiums nestled among Paris's landmarks will be used for the Paralympics, which begin on August 28, with many