The Paris Olympics comes to an end today as the closing ceremony is scheduled to begin at 3pm on Sunday, August 11, 2024.
This edition of the Olympic Games gave viewers plenty of electrifying performances, including new and improved sportsmanship and participants.The 2024 Paris Olympics was an international sport event held in France, from 24 July to 11 August 2024, with the opening ceremony having taken place on 26 July.
The programme of the 2024 Olympics featured 329 events in 32 sports, encompassing a total of 48 disciplines.
However, the Summer Games has reached its final stretch, the closing ceremony being held at the Stade de France, Paris will feature the handover of the Olympic flag to the organizers of the 2028 Los Angeles Games.
Significantly, for the eighth time in Olympic history, Nigerian athletes will return home empty-handed as they concluded their Olympic campaign in Paris without a single medal.
Meanwhile, Nigeria displayed some impressive performances at the Summer Games, with six finalists, including the historical performance of Favour Ofili as the first Nigerian woman to reach the 200m final since Mary Onyali achieved the feat at the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta.
Despite this impressive progress, there were a few Nigerians who won medals at the 2024 Paris Olympics for other countries.
Annette Echikunwoke won the United States at the ongoing Paris 2024 Olympics, with this remarkable victory hitting social media as she showed off the American flag.
Also, Germany’s Yemisi Ogunleye clinched a gold medal in the women’s shot-put competition at the Paris Olympics, becoming the first German to win the challenge since the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta.
A number of other athletes with Nigerian roots grabbed medals for other countries as this is not the first time athletes with Nigerian origins have won medals for other nations, with about five Nigerians hitting the mark in the 2021 Tokyo Olympics.
These turn of events offer hope and indicate a strong need for improvement in the Olympic future of Nigeria and sports generally.
The closing ceremony will feature notable performances, including world famous Tom Cruise, Snoop Dogg, Billie Eillish and others.
The host of the Winter Olympics in 2026 is Milan, Italy, then the Summer Olympics will head back to Los Angeles, California in 2028, making it the third time that the city will host the Summer Games.
The closing ceremony is expected to last until 5:15 pm and the replay will air at 7pm.
