The man, a British national, was spotted just above the Olympic rings adorning the second section of the monument, just above the first viewing. "An individual started climbing the Eiffel Tower at 2:45 p.m., police intervened and the person was detained," a Paris police official told The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because of an ongoing investigation into the incident.

Videos posted on social media showed the bare-chested climber urban-soloing the 330-meter tower. One of the reels shows the grinning climber saying to bystanders "Bloody warm, innit?" while being escorted off the viewing platform by police who had previously evacuated the area. It's unclear where he began his ascent, but prosecutors opened an investigation on charges of "endangering the lives of other people and trespassing at a historical or cultural site," according to a statement from the Paris public prosecutor's office.

The Eiffel Tower was a prime centrepiece of the Olympic Games, hosting the beach volleyball events and one of the major sights along the marathon. At the opening ceremony, Celine Dion serenaded the city from one of its viewing platforms.

The iconic landmark was not expected to be part of the closing ceremony. However, it was showcased in the distance as Hollywood actor Tom Cruise rode by on a motorcycle with the Olympic flag in his mission to bring it to Los Angeles for the 2028 Olympic Games.

The security of a global and crowded event was one of the main demands facing the organisation of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games andthe result was deemed a "gold medal" for the French police, according to the French Minister of the Interior, Gerald Darmanin, who reviewed the arrangements put in place in recent weeks: for the opening night some 75,000 police, soldiers and private security guards were mobilised.

More than 30,000 police officers and other security personnel were deployed around Paris on Sunday to ensure safety on the last day of the Olympics and at the star-studded final show in France's national stadium.

During the two weeks of competition, the stadiums were packed, with 743,000 people flocking to the venues on a single day, 30 July. Other events, from the triathlon to the marathon, lined the streets of the capital. Around one million people lined the route of the men's and women's road cycling races on 3 and 4 August.

Although there have been incidents such as a problem with the railway network on the first day or a field invasion in the men's 100m final, none were so serious as to affect the general running of the Games, including the latest Eiffel Tower stunt.