Au revoir to a wonderful Olympics

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Paris officially bid adieu to its Summer Games this evening with a festive closing ceremony featuring joyous athletes, live music, theatrical performances and, yes, Tom Cruise.

Summer McIntosh and Ethan Katzberg — Canada's two youngest gold medallists — shared the role of flag-bearer as their country celebrated its most successful Summer Olympics ever.

Some closing thoughts on a truly delightful Games:

This was Canada's best Summer Olympics.

Canadians piled up 27 medals in Paris, including nine gold — both national records for a non-boycotted Summer Games. Yes, there are more events than ever now, and the Russia/Belarus ban surely opened up some podium opportunities. But this Canadian team went above and beyond expectations.

For example, the oft-cited Nielsen's Gracenote projections had Canada winning seven gold and 21 total medals, while oddsmakers more or less fell in line with those numbers. Hope you bet the over.

Canadians were front and centre throughout the Games, starring in the two most popular sports. McIntosh delivered on all the hype, and then some, winning a national-record three golds and a silver as Canada racked up eight swimming medals. Then, Canadians climbed five track and field podiums, highlighted by Ethan Katzberg and Camryn Rogers' historic sweep of the hammer throw titles and, of course, the men's 4x100m relay team's towering gold-medal upset.

Canadians broke new ground.

Rogers and Katzberg weren't the only ones to make history. B-boy Phil Wizard won the first Olympic men's gold medal in breaking, Christa Deguchi grabbed Canada's first judo gold, and Katie Vincent paddled to the country's first Olympic title in women's canoe. Beach volleyballers Melissa Humana-Paredes and Brandie Wilkerson and the women's rugby sevens team became the first Canadians to play for a gold medal in their sport — and gave their top-ranked opponents a run for their money before taking silver.

Sometimes, a bronze could feel as good as gold. Eleanor Harvey won Canada's first Olympic medal in fencing, while pole vaulter Alysha Newman, boxer Wyatt Sanford and the mixed-doubles tennis team of Gabriela Dabrowski and Felix Auger-Aliassime put the country back on the podium for the first time in decades in their sports.

Something not new: Canadian women once again carried the team. This has been the case for several Olympics now, but it was still remarkable to see women account for 17 of Canada's 26 non-mixed medals. At a time when the IOC is emphasizing gender parity, Canada is taking it to a whole other level.

WATCH | Canada's most memorable moments from the Paris Olympics:

There were some tough times.