Paris Olympics closing ceremony – what you need to know

After more than two weeks of action-packed sport, Paris is preparing for the 2024 Olympics closing ceremony, and it will be a star-studded occasion featuring Billie Eilish, the Red Hot Chili Peppers and Snoop Dogg.

There is also a rumoured appearance from Hollywood star Tom Cruise to look out for.

The ceremony will take place on Sunday evening and is being held at the Stade de France, which has hosted athletics and rugby sevens during the Games.

It is scheduled to start at 20:00 BST and finish at 22:30.

How can I watch the closing ceremony?

For those in the UK, it will be live on BBC One, BBC iPlayer and the BBC Sport website and app.

Television coverage begins at 19:00 BST and there will be an accompanying live text.

Who is performing at the closing ceremony and is Tom Cruise involved?

Organisers have remained tight-lipped about who is appearing, but film star Tom Cruise is heavily rumoured to be taking part by abseiling down from the top of the stadium.

There will be a segment during which Paris hands over to the next hosts of the summer Olympics – Los Angeles in 2028 – and that could be where the Hollywood star features.

LA28 has confirmed musicians and native Californians Billie Eilish, Red Hot Chili Peppers and Snoop Dogg – the rapper who has been prominent throughout the Games – will be involved in the official handover to Los Angeles at the end of the closing ceremony.

R&B singer H.E.R. will perform the US national anthem live in Paris.

The closing ceremony will feature performers, dancers and circus artists taking part alongside famous headlining acts, with French musical artists Air and Phoenix also expected to perform.

Artistic director Thomas Jolly said the show was called ‘Records’, and it promises to take the audience on a science-fiction dream-like immersive journey through time.

That will begin from the origins of the Olympic Games and will go to a dystopian future when the Olympics have disappeared and must be reinvented.

Athletes’ parade and handover of the Olympic flag

As well as the unique artistic section, the closing ceremony will also include more traditional elements, including:

• The parade of athletes.

• The thanking of the 45,000 volunteers.

• The medal ceremony for the women’s marathon.

• The extinguishing of the Olympic flame, which will be brought from Tuileries, where the cauldron has been on display and visited by tens of thousands of fans.

• The proclamation of the end of the Olympic Games, made by the president of the International Olympic Committee, Thomas Bach.

• The handover of the Olympic flag from Anne Hidalgo to Karen Bass – the respective mayors of Paris and Los Angeles.

Flagbearers will include Antoine Dupont, who led France to rugby sevens gold and US swimmer Katie Ledecky who won two golds in Paris.

What is the weather forecast?

Although Sunday’s closing ceremony is taking place inside a stadium, unlike the rain-soaked opening ceremony along the River Seine, it is still open to the elements.

No rain is forecast. Instead it will be extremely hot, with temperatures peaking at 33C in the French capital.

What is the final event before the ceremony?

The women’s basketball gold-medal match at Bercy Arena will be the final event in competition at Paris 2024, and is scheduled to begin at 14:30 BST on Sunday.