1: 'Marchons, Marchand!'
If Paris luxuriated in the honor of hosting the Games, Toulouse took French bragging rights for the exploits of its athletes, with local rugby star Antoine Dupont securing Sevens gold and Leon Marchand dominating in the pool.
The 22-year-old, urged on by the rhythmic chorus of "Leon, Leon" at the Paris La Defense Arena, won five medals in total, four of them gold including a double in the space of two hours, which sent the crowd into paroxysms of "joie".
The downside of such instant celebrity? "I can't go out to restaurants like I used to anymore," he said when he got back to Toulouse. "I wear a cap and glasses. I try to hide a little."
2: Lyles just in time
World champion Noah Lyles roared to victory in 9.79 seconds to claim gold in a dramatic men's Olympic 100m final in the closest finish in modern history — just five thousandths of a second separated him from Jamaica's Kishane Thompson.
"I'm the man amongst all of them. I'm the wolf amongst wolves," said Lyles, whose victory was only confirmed after a photo-finish.
3: Winning couple
One of the iconic snapshots of the Games came when US athlete Tara Davis-Woodhall celebrated winning the women's long jump by galloping over to kiss her husband Hunter Woodhall in the stands.
A few weeks later, the roles were reversed at the Stade de France as Hunter, who had both legs amputated below the knee when he was 11, bounded over on his blades to kiss Tara after winning gold with an electrifying performance in the men's 400m T62 final at the Paralympics.
"It has been honestly the craziest journey of our entire lives," said Tara.
4: Biles bounces back
Simone Biles proved as popular a draw as the Eiffel Tower, the 1.42-meter bundle of gymnastics brilliance standing tall on her return to the Olympics after the trauma of Tokyo in 2021.
In Japan she was forced to withdraw from most of the Games with a debilitating mental block known as the "twisties".Three years on, watched by an enraptured full house at Bercy Arena including her husband, NFL player Jonathan Owens, Tom Cruise and Lady Gaga, Biles resumed the golden run she started at Rio 2016.
Biles pipped Rebeca Andrade of Brazil for the coveted all-around crown on her last move on the floor.
That was book-ended by titles with the US team and vault — where she executed her Yurchenko double pike, the Biles II, her sixth eponymous skill.
Stumbles on the final day, as tiredness — both mentally and physically — set in, left her with silver behind Andrade on the floor.
In a mark of her class as a person she bowed to the Brazilian on the podium.
5: Novak's 'greatest' win
At the age of 37, Novak Djokovic finally won an Olympic gold medal to go along with his 24 Grand Slam titles, describing the moment as his "greatest ever achievement".
The Serb defeated Carlos Alcaraz, 16 years his junior, in a memorable final at Roland Garros where he has already been crowned French Open champion three times.
Djokovic achieved his dream the hard way — having to defeat career-long rival Rafael Nadal in the second round in the pair's 60th, and what proved to be their final, meeting.
He then overcame aggravating a knee injury, which had needed surgery in June, during his quarterfinal win over Stefanos Tsitsipas.
6: Photo finish
Another Olympic snap that went viral was the selfie taken by the table tennis players from the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, the Republic of Korea and China.
After ROK won bronze and DPRK took silver in the mixed doubles behind China, ROK's Lim Jong-hoon took a group photo after the medal ceremony.
DPRK's Ri Jong-sik and Kim Kumyong, the ROK's Shin Yu-bin and the victorious Chinese team Wang Chuqin and Sun Yingsha all beamed into the camera of Lim's Samsung phone.
7: Dreams come Trew
Australian skateboarding sensation Arisa Trew, just 14, won the women's park event to become her country's youngest ever gold medalist.
Trew nailed a high-risk and highspeed final round in her trademark pink helmet, bringing the crowd to their feet at a sun-drenched Place de la Concorde.
The event also featured 11-year-old Zheng Haohao, the youngest athlete ever to represent China at the Olympics.
"Skateboarding in the Olympic Games isn't much different from skateboarding in my neighborhood," she told reporters.
"It's just more spectators."
8: Gender-row boxers
On a raucous night at Roland Garros, Algerian gender-row boxer Imane Khelif claimed gold and used her platform to hit back at "attacks" and "bullying "before defiantly declaring: "I am a woman like any other."
Together with Chinese Taipei's Lin Yu-ting, who also fought in Paris, Khelif was disqualified from the 2023 world championships after failing gender eligibility tests.
However, they were cleared to compete in Paris, setting the stage for one of the biggest controversies of the Games.
"I am fully qualified to take part, I am a woman like any other," said the 25-year-old.
"I was born a woman, lived as a woman and competed as a woman."
9: Refugees make their mark
The Refugee Paralympic team made a mark on the Games by winning its first-ever medal.
Zakia Khudadadi, the first Afghan female taekwondo practitioner, became the first-ever member of the Refugee Team to win a medal when she secured a bronze in the women's K44-47kg category.
"It's a reminder that people everywhere crave the same things in life: safety and a chance to fulfill their dreams," said Ruvendrini Menikdiwela, United Nations Assistant High Commissioner for Protection at the office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees.
AFP
