The Squiz 

After more than 2 weeks of athletic endeavour that saw Australia land fourth on the medal tally, the 2024 Paris Olympic Games are winding down. The Closing Ceremony is on as we speak with history-making swim star Kaylee McKeown and sailing champ Matt Wearn waving our flag – something McKeown said was a “once in a lifetime opportunity”, even if it did interrupt her family holiday… And there’s been no sign of Tom Cruise yet – but you never know when he’s going to drop out of thin air…

How did we end up?

Our team goes home with 18 gold medals, 19 silver and 16 bronze behind the US, China and Japan – but there are many ways to calculate these things… As we went over last week, we’ve had our best Olympics ever, and they got even better over the weekend – we’ll wrap up the latest with our final Paris Sprint this morning, but there are some weekend performances to call out… Middle distance runner Jess Hull added to our tally with a silver medal in the women’s 1,500m yesterday morning. And although the Stingers – our women’s water polo team – couldn’t quite recreate their gold medal moment at the Sydney Olympics, they bring home a very respectable silver. Of course, there’s been plenty of highs and lows, and we can’t not mention Raygun/Professor Rachael Gunn’s internet breaking-performance in the breakdancing – that probably falls into both categories… 

So how will Paris 2024 go down in the history books?

Well, the International Olympics Committee’s (IOC) outgoing Aussie committee member/former President John Coates has given the Paris Olympics the thumbs up. We’ll have to wait to find out how it went for the Games’ official broadcaster here – Channel Nine paid $305 million for the Games from Paris through to Brisbane in 2032, and it’s been winning the ratings each day and night. And as the world turns its eyes towards the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics, reports say the IOC will be looking to build on the Paris officials’ ability to pull off the mega-event at a reduced cost. The organisers of the 2032 Brisbane Olympics will also be watching closely…