The closing ceremony for the games got underway on Sunday night and was mostly a more cohesive and enjoyable experience than the opening ceremony.
That was partly because it was held in the Stade de France rather than on the River Seine, though a loose bit of carpet threatened to trip up several flag bearers including Team GB star Alex Yee.
After a theatrical segment, the athletes and fans in the stadium were treated to several music performances, headlined by French band Phoenix, with athletes invited to move into the centre of the stadium.
But in a n extremely awkward and worrying moment, many of the thousands of athletes ended up on stage with the musicians.
A stadium announcer briefly interrupted the music to twice tell the Olympians to vacate the stage, though the performances were then affected by a number of sound and technical issues.
Fans on social media were quick to react to the blunder, with @HeroicMarc posting on Twitter: ‘Did they just tell the Olympic athletes to “clear the stage” at their own closing ceremonies? Did they just do that?’
‘Sometimes Olympic organisers never learn – not the first time athletes have invaded the Closing Ceremony stage…. Good luck getting the athletes of the stage,’ @MichaelRPayne1 wrote.
‘The sound issues are because the athletes who jumped on the stage are standing on the cables, right?’ @BintheNL pondered.
Some fans joked that the much maligned breakdancing athletes were the ones trying to get on stage, including the much derided RayGun.
@fastsolitaire joked: ‘It was risky to try the Kangaroo on the Olympic stage but Rachel RayGun did nail it. She deserves every single point awarded.’
‘If you’re at the Olympics for breakdancing you have to take your shot and get up on the stage during the Closing Ceremony right?’ @CassidyLichtman added.
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