The curtain has come down on Paris 2024 capping off a memorable Olympic Games in the French capital which served as the perfect backdrop to a series of breathtaking performances and a host of firsts.
Sunday's closing ceremony marked the end of 17 days of intense competition as the world's best athletes battled it out, with over 1,000 medals being presented across the 32 sporting disciplines.
Alongside the established names from the bigger nations who powered their way to glory as expected, there were a number of stand-out moments from the underdogs who put in performances to savor and upset the odds.
Among them, Saint Lucian sprinter Julien Alfred secured her country's first ever Olympic gold medal by winning the women's 100m final on Aug 3.
The 23-year-old crossed the finish line in 10.72 seconds, ahead of the much-fancied American Sha'Carri Richardson, who claimed silver in 10.87.
Though a first for the small island country, the result continued the Caribbean region's dominance of this event, with Jamaica having previously won four consecutive women's 100m Olympic titles.
Before the race, China Global Television Network (CGTN) caught up with Alfred, and it was clear she was highly focused as she geared up to cause a stunning upset.
"It's best to go out there and do what I have been doing all season, which is trying to work out my execution, trying to focus on just my lane and just myself and not worry about anybody else," said Alfred.
Meanwhile, there was a historic first Olympic medal for the small Caribbean island nation of Dominica, when 30-year-old Thea LaFond launched herself to gold in the women's triple jump.
LaFond said she was relishing the opportunity just to participate at the Olympics, never mind being crowned champion.
"This is massive for us. You know, 70,000 people on an island, and little old me ended up coming out here on arguably the greatest stage for athletics, for sports in the world, and we came out with a gold. It's really, really surreal," she said.
China's Olympic delegation, which again enjoyed a successful games and medal haul, saw historic firsts of its own in Paris, including claiming its first ever gold in artistic swimming after dominating the team acrobatic routine on Aug 7.
The team's 24-year-old captain Feng Yu, who was also a flag-bearer at the opening ceremony, said she hopes their performance at the Olympics can attract more interest and encourage wider participation in artistic swimming.
"I am very excited, especially when I came here and really felt people in Paris were congratulating us. And we were very happy from the bottom of our hearts. We hope to get more people into artistic swimming and love it," said Feng.
Elsewhere, there were also celebrations for 30-year-old fencer Vivian Kong Man-Wai, who became the first female fencer to win gold for China's Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) after earning a hard-won victory in the individual epee event.
Kong explained how she gave herself a motivating pep-talk which stirred her fightback in the final against France's home favorite Auriane Mallo-Breton.
"When I was behind by so many points that I almost forgot about the score, I said, 'I can't, this is embarrassing. I have to fence with everything I've got, like this is not my style, okay!' And I just took it one touch at a time, and all of a sudden it was even," said Kong.
Another of the great Olympic stories was of American cyclist Kristen Faulkner who won the women's road race after unexpectedly having the chance to compete in Paris, becoming the first U.S. rider to win the event since 1984.
The 31-year-old Faulkner was a leisure cyclist seven years ago and only turned pro in 2020. More remarkably, she was only chosen for the U.S. team a month ago after a team-mate gave up her place.
After her late arrival, Faulkner now goes home with two golds, after she was also part of the victorious U.S. women's team pursuit group.
"There's this quote I like. It says, haters gonna hate, winners gonna win. And you just got to believe in yourself and keep pushing. And I think it's having that self-confidence and belief in yourself that gets you to the finish line," she said.
Memorable Paris Olympics wraps up after seeing several historical firsts
