We were treated to one of the most spectacular cities on the planet open up and transform its many magnificent spots into breathtaking sporting venues where teams and individuals made headlines amidst blood, sweat, and tears.

Before all eyes turn their gaze towards Los Angeles 2028 here are 10 takeaways from the Paris 2024 Olympic Games. 

1. An utterly unique opening ceremony

Let's start from the beginning. This summer's sprawling and elaborate opening ceremony was the first-ever to take place outside of a controlled stadium with the stage instead being the French capital's famed River Seine. 

There are good reasons every single opening ceremony in the history of the Olympics has taken place within an enclosed arena but while there were arson attacks that disrupted train travel, relentless rainfall, and an extensive security operation around the river, the unique opening ceremony was a great success overcoming numerous obstacles thrown its way.

Paris proved that while purists may prefer the traditional arena event, the unprecedented ceremony with its boat-based parade and inspiring performances was an utterly unique spectacle that elegantly exhibited the heart of the host city.

2. The sullied Seine maybe not so suitable

Just as ambitious as the opening ceremony was the organisers' attempts to use the River Seine in competitions. 

After hitting the headlines for all the wrong reasons it's safe to say that maybe urban city rivers shouldn't be used for sporting events, at least not those that are so central to the city like the Seine. 

You have to commend the intent to use landmark locations to hold Olympic events and the €1.5 billion attempt to clean up the Seine (which culminated in the Mayor of Paris Anne Hidalgo herself taking a swim in July to send a message that it was safe enough), but perhaps it should have remained a pipe dream.

Trying to get the water quality to a safe level was already a challenge and when excessive rainfall caused surrounding aquatic arteries to pollute the Seine further, the idea seemed an inevitable strain on the games.

Fluctuating levels of bacteria forced cancellations to training sessions and events thus affecting the preparation and performance of athletes but it also caused some to fall ill. 

35-year-old Belgian triathlete Claire Michel was hospitalised with an E. coli infection the day after competing in a chaotic triathlon event while Belgian competitor Jolien Vermeylen told reporters “While swimming under the bridge, I felt things and saw things that you shouldn’t think about too much.”

Ominous reports followed and it began getting all too vicariously visceral when Bettina Fabian of Hungary said "I saw some brown things; I hope it’s not what I thought it was."

3. Refugee Olympic Team makes history

Onto more positive pastures, the first athlete shoutout has to go to boxer Cindy Ngamba and the Refugee Olympic Team.

Competing in the women’s 75kg category Cindy Ngamba was awarded the bronze medal and poignantly the first medal ever awarded to a competitor from the Refugee Olympic Team.

Set up at the 2016 Rio Olympic Games with 10 athletes, the Refugee Olympic Team grew to 29 competitors when the games were held in Tokyo in 2021. In Paris, there were 37 athletes from 11 countries representing refugees from around the world sending an important message to over 100 million displaced people across the globe.

“It just shows that through all the things that I’ve gone through, through all the obstacles and tragedies … you can achieve so many things in life if you work hard, believe in yourself, and keep your head held high. Strive to love and take each day as it comes”, said Ngamba. 

4. Unwavering pride in uncharted territory for numerous nations

While Cindy Ngamba clinched the first medal for the Refugee Olympic Team there were several other heartwarming moments in which nations won their first-ever Olympic medals.

The Olympics has the obvious allure of watching the very best perform. The likes of Michael Phelps, Usain Bolt, and Simone Biles attract millions of viewers across their respective sports for their prowess and proficiency at getting gold but it is all the more impressive when somebody relatively unknown upsets the applecart and astounds on a global scale. 

Over 200 National Olympic Committees (NOCs) send athletes to the games but often winning a medal eludes many of them. At the Paris 2024 Olympics, four teams joined the Refugee Olympic Team by grabbing an unprecedented medal.

23-year-old Julien Alfred beat the favourite in the women’s 100m meaning that St Lucia’s first-ever Olympic medal was gold. Then, 30-year-old triple jump champion Thea LaFond-Gadson did the same earning the Caribbean island of Dominica a gold medal in the women’s triple jump. 

Meanwhile, Chermen Valiev became the first Olympic medalist from Albania after he won bronze in the men's 74kg freestyle wrestling event and David de Pina won Cape Verde its first-ever Olympic medal after he won the bronze medal in the men's 51kg event.

More than 50 countries and territories have still never won an Olympic medal in either the Summer or Winter Games so here's to more barrier-breaking performances to come!

5. New national heroes and new world records

Of course, there are also those teams and individuals to have exceeded expectations, written themselves into the history books for breaking world records, competed in categories normally dominated by some nations, or just proven to be proficient across numerous events. 

Antoine Dupont inspired France in the men’s rugby sevens final to inflict Fiji’s first defeat in an Olympic competition and kick off the home nation's gold rush giving France its first gold.

France's new 22-year-old darling Olympian Léon Marchand put on an unforgettable show at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, exhilarating crowds at La Defense Arena and winning four individual gold medals in six nights.

Sweden's Armand Duplantis was another star setting a new Pole Vault world record by clearing 6.25m to beat his own previous world record and win gold. 

Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone of the United States did the same running the women’s 400m hurdles in 50.37s to win the race beating her previous world record and setting a new one.

One of the greatest multiple endurance performances in Olympic history, however, was performed by Siffan Hass of the Netherlands. 

Hassan took on what many considered to be crazy competing in the 5,000m, the 10,000m and the marathon with the last two events just two days apart. Saying no to the naysayers she achieved an unprecedented treble for a woman at the Olympic Games winning the marathon after bagging bronze medals in the 5,000m and 10,000m events.

6. You don't have to be flash to be effective

Every Olympic Games thousands of athletes turn up on the back of intense preparation that many couldn't begin to understand. Years of hard work have gone into fine-tuning their bodies with the very best support behind them and state-of-the-art equipment helping to hone their skills and prepare them to compete against the best in the world.

Which is why seeing individuals like Türkiye's nonchalant sharpshooter Yusuf Dikeç compete like he's winning a toy at a fairground attraction makes it all the more magical. 

Dikeç became a viral sensation during the Olympics for his "gearless" look and calm composure. As others competed with protective earplugs and special lenses in the 10m air pistol competition the 51-year-old stood with his hand in his pocket and his regular glasses showing that not all Olympians look as you'd expect.

To make it even more impressive, Dikeç won a silver medal and told newspapers after that he is a "natural shooter" who has no need for special equipment.

7. Stories as engaging as the events themselves 

While everybody loves to see athletes astound and amaze be they Yusuf Dikeç or Léon Marchand, stories of inspiration, resilience and tenacity are just as much a part of every Olympic story as the shows of extreme skill. 

Egyptian fencer Nada Hafez is one such athlete who showcased extraordinary determination and strength by surprising everybody when she announced that she had been competing in Paris while seven months pregnant. 

“What appears to you as two players on the podium, they were actually three!" she said via Instagram. "It was me, my competitor, & my yet-to-come to our world, little baby!"

Another memorable moment came from Team GB’s Lola Anderson whose late father inspired her to achieve gold. Having won gold in the women’s quadruple sculls team Anderson explained how her father had kept one of her childhood diary entries in which she had expressed a dream of winning an Olympic gold medal in rowing. 

After she had thrown the note in the bin, her father Don retrieved it to keep hold of it and returned it to her seven years later just before dying of cancer in 2019.

“I threw that away because I didn’t believe. My dad saw it before I did. He saw the potential I had" said Anderson.”

8. The Olympics is a platform to amplify national strife in a turbulent time

Whether you agree with it or not, numerous athletes used the stage to draw more attention to ongoing conflicts around the world, in particular, Russia's invasion of Ukraine and Israel's invasion of Palestine. 

Just 16 Russians and 17 Belarusians accepted invitations to compete under a neutral flag at the Paris Olympics but the same rules were not imposed on Israeli athletes resulting in many criticising the International Olympic Committee's "double standards".

Palestinian boxer and flag-bearer Waseem Abu Sal wore a shirt depicting children being bombed in the opening ceremony, Israeli teams and athletes were booed at events and then Israeli athletes were snubbed when early on both Nurali Emomali of Tajikistan and Morocco’s Abderrahmane Boushita refused to shake hands with their Israeli opponents.

There was an inevitable running theme throughout the summer games which reflected the turbulent times we live in. 

9. Moments of unity

There were, however, also many moments of unity. Table tennis stars from North Korea and South Korea snapped a selfie together on the Olympic podium in a rarely-seen moment of unity between the two countries.

10. The farewells

There were numerous farewells for sporting stars, in particular some tennis titans that will go down as the very best to have ever played the game. 

Unfortunately, Rafa Nadal and Andy Murray's swansongs weren't to be as both confirmed it was their last competitive matches. For a certain Serb, however, it proved to be the perfect performance. The Olympic Games isn't the pinnacle event for some sports like football and tennis with stars no doubt preferring a FIFA World Cup or a Wimbledon title, but Paris 2024 was different for some.

An Olympic gold medal was all that Novak Djokovic lacked in his illustrious career and with national pride at stake he faced Carlos Alcaraz in a repeat of the recent Wimbledon final but this time he came out on top and was visibly shaken by the intensity and enormity of the moment. 

"This is probably the biggest sporting success I have ever had and the most special feeling," said Djokovic.

To finish things off a special farewell goes to Mijain Lopez. The 41-year-old from Cuba made history on Day Eleven in Paris, becoming the first athlete to win five gold medals in five consecutive Olympic Games, a feat never before achieved.

Having refrained from competing between this summer and the Tokyo Olympics in 2021 to preserve his body Lopez stormed to his fifth gold beating Chile’s Yasmani Acosta 6-0 in the Greco-Roman wrestling 130kg final.

That means the Cuban hero won gold medals at Beijing 2008, London 2012, Rio 2016, Tokyo 2020, and Paris 2024. This was his last Olympics and after the bout, he symbolically left his shoes on the mat to signal his retirement and bring to an end his illustrious career.