Olympic athlete says he was unable to attend closing ceremony as clothes didn't fit

One athlete has said he couldn't attend the Olympics closing ceremony - because the clothes provided were too big for him.

The closing ceremony to conclude the Paris Games took place on Sunday night, with the handover to Los Angeles for the 2028 Olympics also taking place.

It was a spectacular ceremony in the Stade de France, with all the athletes still present in Paris packing into the stadium to watch performances from the likes of Phoenix and Air.

French swimming star Leon Marchand - who won four individual golds at the Games - had the honour of carrying the Olympic flame into the arena before its flame was extinguished to end the Olympics.

In the American section, from Venice Beach, Billie Eilish, Red Hot Chilli Peppers and Snoop Dogg all performed, while Tom Cruise made an appearance in Paris to collect the Olympic flag - before then jumping out of a helicopter.

While organisers said there were at least 9,000 athletes in attendance, one athlete claims he had to miss out.

Nigeria's Chukwuebuka Enekwechi, who finished sixth in the men's shotput final, took to Instagram to state that he would not be attending the ceremony - as he was not provided clothes in his size.

He wrote: "No closing ceremony for me. Clothes were not provided in my size. I'm not THAT big."

SPORTbible has contacted the Nigerian Olympic Team for comment.

Why I wouldn’t be attending Paris 2024 Olympics closing ceremony — Team Nigeria’s top shot-putter and African champion, Chukwuebuka Enekwechi pic.twitter.com/GKJYeQUR0I

— Instablog9ja (@instablog9ja) August 11, 2024

Nigeria failed to win an Olympic medal in Paris for the first time since London 2012, despite sending 33 more athletes than they did in Tokyo.

But they did have six finalists in athletics - the same as the last two Games combined - including 18-year-old 400m runner Samuel Ogazi, who is seen as a top prospect for the future.

Enekwechi, meanwhile, who won a silver medal in the shotput at the 2018 Commonwealth Games, threw a 21.42 in the final - one of only five athletes in the final to throw further than their qualifying distance.