CITY OF LOVE-IN

Brits stole hearts and kisses in Paris

- JEREMY CROSS

THEY all came. They all saw. And a lot of them conquered.

Some went home with gold, silver and bronze.

Some left Paris 2024 with nothing but regrets, while others will never return to the Olympic stage again.

This is the sporting spectacle which made dreams and broke them, in equal measure.

The greatest show on turf, water, sand, clay and a purple running track, to name some of the surfaces the world's best athletes graced throughout a fortnight of astonishing endeavour.

One which started with Celine Dion singing and finished with Tom Cruise taking the baton on behalf of America ahead of Los Angeles 2028.

Nothing ever goes to plan, of course, and an Olympic Games can feel like Mission Impossible sometimes.

The International Olympic Committee spent more than £1bn attempting to cleanse the river Seine but it wasn't enough.

Training schedules were cancelled, while some triathletes who decided to brave the s*** and sewage were left sick.

And the participation of Imane Khelif and Lin Yuting in the women's boxing sparked a gender row so troubling it provided a dark backdrop to these Games.