Highs, lows and Snoop Dogg: the Guardian’s most memorable Paris Olympic moments

Barney Ronay

Best moment Julien Alfred winning the women’s 100m, St Lucia’s first medal in any Olympic Games. Followed instantly by panic at how to write 900 coherent words on this in the next 20 minutes.

Biggest disappointment The reflexive, sometimes heavy‑handed position-taking over sensitive and complex issues in the women’s boxing.

Star of the Games Paris. Feast on me. For I am the most beautiful person here.

Crowd-pleaser The triathlon. Yes, the Seine, like the rest of us here, is still full of shit. But even trying to clean it up is one of the best things Paris 2024 has done.

One to watch for LA 2028 Skateboarding in LA will be most excellent.

Paris Olympics in three words Ride. A. Bike.

Angelique Chrisafis

Best moment The cheering in the streets as Teddy Riner and the French mixed judo team won their dramatic final against Japan.

Biggest disappointment The valiant French men’s handball team graciously bowing out in the quarter-finals.

Star of the Games Boxer Cindy Ngamba won the Refugee Olympic team’s first medal.

Crowd-pleaser Pop superstar Aya Nakamura singing with France’s Garde Républicaine military band at the opening ceremony.

Ones to watch for LA 2028 Félix and Alexis Lebrun: French brothers and table tennis prodigies.

Paris Olympics in three words Boost for France.

Jonathan Liew

Best moment Antoine Dupont inspiring France to gold in the rugby sevens: arguably the springboard for all the euphoria that followed.

Biggest disappointment The shameful circus following the boxers Imane Khelif and Lin Yu-ting, whipped up by some of the worst people on Earth.

Star of the Games Léon Marchand.

Crowd-pleaser The road race cycling on the hills of Montmartre. An incredible race in an incredible setting.

One to watch for LA 2028 “Jofra Archer, Team GB” has a nice ring to it.

Paris Olympics in three words Sport is amazing.

Sean Ingle

Best moment A dead heat: the men’s 1500m, Sifan Hassan’s marathon gold after two track medals, and Alex Yee’s miracle along the Seine.

Biggest disappointment In an Olympics of many highs, the IOC’s reaction to the furore surrounding the women’s boxing and the Dutch beach volleyball player.

Star of the Games Paris. Never has an Olympic city looked more beautiful or divine. And Léon Marchand.

Crowd-pleaser France’s sevens team. The crowds were also 15-deep along the Seine when Cassandre Beaugrand won a thrilling women’s triathlon gold.

One to watch for LA 2028 GB’s Phoebe Gill. She can already run an 800m in 1min 57sec at 17 and reached the semi-finals here.

Paris Olympics in three words Spectaculaire, magnifique, cool.

Daniel Boffey

Best moment Pocket dynamo Antoine Dupont lighting up the Stade de France in the sevens final forthe first French gold.

Biggest disappointment The boxing gender eligibility row.

Star of the Games Léon Marchand. Has to be.

Crowd-pleaser La Seine (but she kept us guessing).

One to watch for LA 2028 British runner Emile Cairess, 26, who came fourth in his third marathon. The winner, Tamirat Tola, is 31.

Paris Olympics in three words Oh. Là. Là!

Andy Bull

Best moment Mondo Duplantis’s pole vault world record, Léon Marchand’s last turn in the 200m breaststroke, Antoine Dupont’s final sprint down the wing.

Biggest disappointment Price‑gouging in the stadiums. It’s one thing when the local businesses take advantage of all the visitors, another when it’s Coca‑Cola doing it.

Star of the Games “Marchand! Marchand! / Qu’un sang impur / Abreuve nos sillons!” I think that’s how it goes.

Crowd-pleaser Céline Dion belting out L’Hymne a l’Amour across the city from a perch halfway up the Eiffel Tower.

One to watch for LA 2028 Cricket. After 128 years the game will be back in the Olympics. It’s going to be fascinating to see how it shakes out.

Paris Olympics in three words Chic, sweaty, joyful.

Alexandra Topping

Best moment Every second of the women’s heavyweight weightlifting. I’ve always loved it; to cover it was such a privilege.

Biggest disappointment Knowing all the amazing food in Paris was right there, but only having time to eat a sandwich.

Star of the Games It has to be Léon Marchand.

Crowd-pleaser Fortuitously getting stuck watching the joyous people’s marathon late on the penultimate night of the Games.

One to watch for LA 2028 Taekwondo’s Caden Cunningham (if the silver medallist doesn’t go to MMA).

Paris Olympics in three words Crazy beautiful city.

Tumaini Carayol

Best moment Sifan Hassan’s dramatic sprint finish and Olympic marathon record after winning bronze medals in 5,000m and 10,000m races.

Biggest disappointment The International Gymnastics Federation’s catastrophic handling of the floor exercise bronze medal dispute involving Jordan Chiles of the USA and Ana Barbosu of Romania.

Star of the Games: Simone Biles.

Crowd-pleaser The return of Biles after the twisties and the stunning venues at the Eiffel Tower and Grand Palais.

One to watch for LA 2028 Mondo Duplantis’s pole vault world record height in four years.

Paris Olympics in three words Ambitious, uplifting, harmonious.

Nick Ames

Best moment Seeing the fencer Olga Kharlan win Ukraine’s first medal at the brilliantly repurposed Grand Palais was a real thrill. A few days later, she topped it with a team gold.

Biggest disappointment It didn’t necessarily disappoint me, but the best part of 27,000 heads in hands around Stade Pierre Mauroy when France blew their handball quarter‑final against Germany – denying the legend Nikola Karabatic a shiny send-off – told their own story.

Star of the Games Easy, it was Paris, which opened itself up with easy confidence and charm. Athlete‑wise, Mondo Duplantis and Yaroslava Mahuchikh were compelling, magnetic faces of the fortnight.

Crowd-pleaser Seeing crowds sway along to Joe Dassin’s classic song Les Champs-Élysées every day and never finding it twee or boring. France’s problems in the buildup were well documented but every day was joyful.

One to watch for LA 2028 Is it ridiculous to say Keely Hodgkinson? Her potential is frightening; just 22, she will only get better and better.

Paris Olympics in three words Lemonade. No, champagne.

Ewan Murray

Best moment The waft of ultra-cool hotel-room air-conditioning, night after night. Paris was hot. Too hot.

Biggest disappointment Media toilet facilities at every venue. An utter disgrace.

Star of the Games Jonathan Liew.

Crowd-pleaser Bozhidar Andreev. I watched him with bronze medal around his neck as he sank pints and smoked cigarettes in the company of Bulgarian weightlifting fans. What a man.

One to watch for LA 2028 Keely Hodgkinson looks to have a rather promising future.

Paris Olympics in three words Freed from Desire.

Stephen McMillan

Best moment Antoine Dupont’s glorious sprint down the wing in the sevens final set the tone for everything that followed.

Biggest disappointment Ignorance abounded in the boxer gender eligibility row.

Star of the Games Oh Paris, je t’aime! France has set a gold standard in Olympic hosting.

Crowd-pleaser Léon Marchand, whose success reverberated across the city with cheers, screams and blaring horns.

One to watch for LA 2028 A car‑free Olympics. That’s the bold claim of LA’s mayor, Karen Bass. Has she been to her city? Good luck with that.

Paris Olympics in three words Ça va, Snoop?

Jeremy Whittle

Best moment Tom Pidcock’s scintillating last-gasp dart through the woods to successfully defend his mountain biking title in Élancourt.

Biggest disappointment Josh Tarling’s time trial medal hopes thwarted by an inopportune puncture in the rainswept men’s individual time trial.

Star of the Games Triple medallist, Emma Finucane, bright, breezy, up for it and as enthused on day seven in the velodrome as she had been on day one.

Crowd-pleaser The exuberant French 1-2-3 in the BMX racing, led home by Joris Daudet under the admiring gaze of President Macron.

One to watch for LA 2028 Finucane, only 21, will be stronger and wiser.

Paris Olympics in three words Hot, dusty, beautiful.

Bryan Armen Graham

Best moment Watching Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone break free at the top of the stretch and win the 400m hurdles going away was instant goosebumps.

Biggest disappointment The American gymnast Jordan Chiles having to give back her floor exercise bronze medal on a procedural technicality sure was something.

Star of the Games Besides Céline Dion? Surely the French judoka Teddy Riner.

Crowd-pleaser Léon Marchand won four individual gold medals in six nights, turning La Défense Arena into a Taylor Swift gig every time he swam.

One to watch for LA 2028 Wild guess: flag football’s debut includes a 38-year-old Travis Kelce.

Paris Olympics in three words Freed from Desire.

Jack Snape

Best moment Antoine Dupont’s France surprising Fiji in the men’s rugby sevens final to give the home nation its first gold.

Biggest disappointment Snoop Dogg leaving skateboarding’s park final before the end. Winner Keegan Palmer laughed it off: “He’s got places to be.”

Star of the Games Léon Marchand and his four gold medals.

Crowd-pleaser The decision to adapt the Grand Palais into a breathtaking venue for fencing and taekwondo.

One to watch for LA 2028 How close China will be to the USA’s medal tally.

Paris Olympics in three words Joie de Raygun.

Kieran Pender

Best moment Nina Kennedy pole‑vaulting to gold to win Australia’s 18th gold, for the nation’s best Olympic performance.

Biggest disappointment Surfing more than justified its spot on the Olympic schedule in Tahiti, but running the final in subpar conditions was a letdown.

Star of the Games The French-born Australian Jess Fox: flag-bearer and two-time gold medallist. Clutch.

Crowd-pleaser Léon Marchand was blockbuster at the swimming, with four gold medals and a bronze. He elevated the atmosphere to fever pitch.

One to watch for LA 2028 The skateboarder Arisa Trew: gold in Paris, at 14. Big things ahead.

Paris Olympics in three words Liberté. Égalité. Fête?!

• This article was amended on 20 August 2024 to correct the first name of Cassandre Beaugrand.