Team USA kept the party going during the 2024 Paris Olympics closing ceremony with a little help from Phoenix and lead singer Thomas Mars.
The French band performed their biggest hits during the wild party on Sunday, August 11, which saw Mars, 47, jump into the American delegation of athletes during the act’s energetic set. The singer’s feet were then supported by of members of Team USA, who helped Mars navigate the frenetic crowd as others jumped up and down around him.
“Thomas Mars out here advocating for crowd surfing as a new Olympic sport,” one viewer joked via X.
Team USA led the way in Paris with a total of 126 medals: 40 gold, 44 silver and 42 bronze. The Americans tied China for the most gold medals overall, the first time that has happened in Olympic history.
Team USA broke several records while in Paris. For one, the country became the first to surpass 3,000 medals across the summer and winter games.
In swimming events, Katie Ledecky won gold in the 1500m freestyle, clocking in at 15:30.02 and besting her own time from the 2020 games; Gretchen Walsh swam the 100m butterfly in 55.37, 11 seconds faster than the previous record holder; Bobby Finke set a new world record in the men’s 1500m freestyle at 14:30.67. Additionally, Walsh broke world record times with Regan Smith, Lilly King and Torri Huske in the 4x100m medley relay and with Huske, Ryan Murphy and Nic Fink in the mixed 4x100m relay.
Meanwhile, Simone Biles became the most decorated U.S. gymnast in Olympic history after winning three gold medals and one silver medal in Paris, surpassing Shannon Miller.
Biles, 27, referred to her Olympics stint as her “redemption tour” after she withdrew from multiple events at the Tokyo games in 2021 due to a bout with the “twisties,” which caused her to become disoriented in the air while performing tricks.
After concluding her final competition in Paris, Biles revealed that it had not sunk in yet that the games were over for her.
“I don’t think I will until one day I decide to retire. But yesterday, once we got back to the village, I looked at Jordan [Chiles] and just started bawling my eyes out,” she said on the Today show on Tuesday, August 6. “And she was like, ‘I knew it was going [to] happen — I just didn’t know when!’”
She added: “I think I was just so full of emotion, and I finally released all of that. I was so proud, happy, bittersweet that the journey’s over. It’s so crazy. It happened too quick. My third Olympics!”
While the 2024 games could be Biles’ last, she is not ready to make a decision about the 2028 Olympics, which will be held in Los Angeles. “You know, you never say never. The next Olympics is on home turf. I’m just going to relax and see where life takes me,” she noted.
Regardless of her Olympics future, Biles hopes to be remembered as “someone who loved the sport, had fun doing it and was just authentically herself.”
