Closing Ceremony Draws Curtain on London 2012

After two weeks of glorious, unforgettable sporting action, London 2012 came to an end last night with a Closing Ceremony at the Olympic Stadium. Some of the biggest musicians in the world joined together to present a collection of some of the best-known British music, as the athletes danced in the stadium and the responsibility was passed on to Brazil for the 2016 Olympic Games.

Last Weekend of Sport

However, before all the closing party, there was one last weekend of Olympic sport to enjoy. Team GB made sure they went out with a bang, claiming another four gold medals over the weekend. Luke Campbell and Anthony Joshua both took boxing golds, whilst Ed McKeever won the kayak 200m sprint. However, it was Mo Farah who grabbed most of the headlines, adding the 5,000m gold to the one he won for the 10,000m. It was the first time a Brit had ever completed this unique Olympic double, and firmly placed Farah as one of the stand out performers for Britain at the Games.

All this was amongst Usain Bolt taking another gold medal and setting another world record, as his Jamaican team strolled to the men's 4x100m relay. Bolt celebrated with Mo Farah afterwards, both copying the other's famous celebratory pose:

Spectacular Closing Ceremony

With all the sport finished and the athletes ready to return to their home countries, all that was left was one final leaving party. After the huge success of the Opening Ceremony, the Closing one had a lot to live up to. The result? Mixed. Some parts spectacular, some parts bizarre.

Much of the Ceremony was filled by some of the biggest names in British music performing classic songs from the last 60 years. George Michael, Elbow, Jessie J, Emeli Sande, Madness, Muse, the Pet Shop Boys, One Direction, Ray Davies and Liam Gallagher all performed with varying degrees of success. Elbow's ‘One Day Like This' felt perfect as 10,000 athletes entered the stadium through the crowd, all smiling and dancing. However, letting George Michael spend 5 minutes on his new single seemed odd.

There was an unexpected cover of the Beatles' ‘I am the Walrus' from comedian Russell Brand and a comic rendition of ‘Always Look on the Bright Side of Life' from Monty Python star Eric Idle, both of which strangely worked well. However, the highlight for most was the return of the Spice Girls. Years since their last performance together, all five members were there to sing their hits ‘Wannabe' and ‘Spice Up Your Life' on top of black cabs.

Passing on to Rio

After the majority of the acts had performed, London officially handed over the Olympic Games to Rio. After a closing speech by London 2012 organiser Seb Coe, London Mayor Boris Johnson waved the Olympic flag for one last time, before passing it on to the mayor of Rio, as London's Olympic flame was extinguished. Rio then put on their own mini show to give everyone a sample of what is to come. Judging by their slot, there is going to be a lot of samba and carnival in four years time.

Finally, there was a spectacular end to the London 2012 Olympics, with The Who performing to the jubilant crowd, as an incredibhle firework display shot from the top of the Olympic Stadium. And with that, it was done. After almost a decade of planning, and two of best weeks the city of London has every experienced, Britain is certainly going to muss the Olympics.

If you're in the UK, you can watch the ceremony in its entirety here.

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