Top 10 moments from the Paris 2024 Olympics and Paralympics

The fun and Games in Paris lit up the sporting world in 2024 and there were fireworks inside and outside the arena.

Here are ten top picks from a summer of sport in the city of love.

10. Lady Gaga and Celine Dion light the fuse at the opening ceremony

Bold, brash and daring, it was the first Olympics opening ceremony to be held outside a stadium and not even the rain could dampen the spirits on the River Seine.

Italian high jumper Gianmarco Tamberi turned a negative into a positive after he lost his wedding ring to the wet, telling wife Chiara Bontempi Tamberi in a love letter on social media: "If it had to happen, if I had to lose this ring, I couldn't imagine a better place," saying the ring will now "remain forever in the riverbed of the city of love." Nice save.

Lady Gaga lit the fuse on the world's biggest sporting event and how about Celine Dion's performance? Spine-tingling.

9. "Marchand, Marchand"

France found the hero it needed in Leon Marchand, who became only the third male swimmer in Olympic history to win four individual golds at a single Games. Can you guess the other two? Answers at the end of this article.

It was hard to decide which was more fun, watching him swim or listening to the crowd sing that brilliant national anthem all night.

8. Mondo's mundo - 'An out-of-body experience'

Six meters above the ground is Mondo Duplantis' world and the Swedish pole-vaulter saved his best for the greatest stage in sport.

The gold medal was pretty much guaranteed and the real question was whether he could break the world record with billions across the planet watching. Of course he could.

He cleared 6.25m, breaking his own mark of 6.24 set in April, giving the world one of the most special moments of the 2024 Olympics.

"The biggest dream since I was a kid was to break the world record at the Olympics," Duplantis said. "I've been able to do it in front of the most ridiculous crowds I've ever competed in front of. It's one of those things that don't really feel real, such an out-of-body experience."

7. Viktor Axelsen doubles down

The world watched Denmark's badminton king Viktor Axelsen win a second straight men's singles gold, imperiously defending his Tokyo 2020 title without dropping a single set.

And he's a man of many talents - as he also went viral in China too, smashing it with some serious Mandarin skills in an interview with CGTN which was seen over 20 million times in 24 hours on Weibo alone - one of China's big social media channels.

6. He Bingjiao and Carolina Marin win hearts and minds

Staying with badminton, one of the most heart-melting moments was in the women's singles semi-finals.

Spain's Carolina Marin made history when she became the first non-Asian to win the women's badminton singles Olympic gold at Rio in 2016. In Paris she was looking good to relive her Olympic dream, winning the semi-final first set 21-14, but disaster struck when another horror knee injury struck and she had to retire. Marin was inconsolable.

Her opponent He Bingjiao was clearly upset too, wiping away the tears during her post-match interviews. He eventually lost out to South Korea's An Se-young in the final but it was what she did next that went viral, holding up the Spanish Olympic pin on the podium in a show of love and support for Marin.

They were reunited at an awards ceremony in Madrid in November, where He said she did it to "show my support and respect for her, to let her know that I have always admired her, I have always been with her".

Marin said: "It's a moment I'll remember for the rest of my life and I'm eternally grateful."

I think I have something in my eye.

5. Oui, oui, Paris!

The city put on a show and treated its guests to a sporting, cultural and culinary feast. Montmartre is a must in Paris and what better way to see it than from a classic Citroen 2 CV car – as your CGTN reporter did.

The Sacre Coeur, a bright white 19th-century church perched high above downtown Paris receives more than ten million visitors each year and it looks even better from the sunroof of a classic old car.

Then there were the French culinary wonders and CGTN also fell off a climbing wall in a Parisian chapel. Endless fun.

4. Meeting Eileen Gu

The Winter Games ski superstar was having fun and soaking up the summer vibes too:

"I have seen so many incredible events," she told CGTN in Paris. "The women's diving synchronized was incredible.

"Last night we also went and watched the Asia record-breaking performance by the swim medley team, the relay team, and my friend Qian Yufei was competing and I got to see her and meet her and that was really exciting.

"Honestly, there have been so many incredible performances by the Chinese team and all the athletes here in Paris."

3. Box-Office Biles

One of those incredible performances was a box-office comeback from a sparkling Simone Biles, who won three gold medals and a silver medal - a dramatic return to Olympic action after it looked like she had stepped away from the Olympic competition at Tokyo 2020 citing mental issues and "the twisties".

Both mind and body were in tune at Tokyo and at 27 she became the oldest person to win the all-around final for 72 years.

The GOAT proved it wasn't all about winning either when she and Jordan Chiles bowed at the feet of Brazilian gymnast Rebeca Andrade after she won the floor exercise gold.

"First, it was an all-Black podium, so that was super exciting for us," Biles said. "But then Jordan was like, 'should we bow to her?.  And I was like, 'absolutely'.

"She is such an exciting gymnast to watch and all the fans in the crowd cheering for her. It was just the right thing to do. She's a queen."

Iconic.

2. China's great eight

It had never been done before but China's divers have greatness guaranteed after winning eight out of eight diving gold medals.

That means the Chinese diving team has now claimed 22 of the last 24 Olympic golds, a story of dedication and strategic success decades in the planning.

In fact, China is so good at diving that it's often just competing with itself - like when Tokyo 2020 Olympic champion Quan Hongchan successfully beat compatriot Chen Yuxi to win her second consecutive Olympic gold medal in the women's 10m platform in Paris.

Quan was only 14 when she won gold in Tokyo and Chen, who won silver, was only 15. The future looks golden too.

Not to be outdone, the Chinese table tennis team recorded a clean sweep too, winning all five gold medals on offer.

1. Too many moments

Our top pick goes to so many moments and too many more that we cannot fit in:

Botswana's Letsile Tebogo, who won his nation's first ever gold medal, Faith Kipyegon's face when she claimed her third consecutive Olympic gold in the 1500m, becoming the first athlete, male or female, to achieve this feat in the event.

And who could forget the men's 100m photo finish - Noah Lyles backing up some big talk with a big moment.

We had many winners in Paris but few did it with the effortless cool of viral Turkish shooter and meme-machine Yusuf Dikec.

And speaking of cool, Snoop Dogg lit up Paris too and he and Billie Eilish welcoming the flame to Los Angeles had us looking forward to 2028 already.

Can't wait.

Answer: Leon Marchand became only the third male swimmer in Olympic history to win four individual gold medals at a single Games, joining Michael Phelps (Athens 2004) and Mark Spitz (Munich 1972).