London 2012: The Closing Ceremony the best pictures

The Atlantic reports….Thousands of fans gathered in Olympic Stadium for the Closing Ceremony of the 2012 games. The spectacular show kicked off with fireworks and rolled into a series of performances by British pop stars from the past six decades, including Brian May, The Who, Blur, and George Michael. Even John Lennon and Freddie Mercury made posthumous appearances via video. Brazil gave a preview performance of things to come in Rio de Janeiro in 2016, and Lord Sebastian Coe, chairman of the London Games Organizing Committee, praised the execution of this year’s summer games, saying, “When our time came, Britain, we did it right.”

Fireworks explode over the Olympic Stadium during the Closing Ceremony, on August 12, 2012. (Reuters/Tim Wimborne)

DJ Fatboy Slim performs atop a psychedelic bus transformed into a massive translucent octopus in the Olympic Stadium, on August 12, 2012. (Reuters/David Gray)

A giant sculpture of the face of John Lennon is assembled from pieces onstage during a performance of Lennon’s “Imagine” in Olympic Stadium, on August 12, 2012. (Paul Gilham/Getty Images)

Timothy Spall plays the role of Winston Churchill during a theatrical piece at the Olympic Stadium, on August 12, 2012. (Reuters/Fabrizio Bensch)

A overhead view of Olympic Stadium, during the Closing Ceremony on August 12, 2012. (Reuters/Pawel Kopczynski)

British prima ballerina Darcey Bussell flies into London’s Olympic Stadium on a flaming phoenix during the Closing Ceremony of the London 2012 Olympic Games, on August 12, 2012. (Reuters/Fabrizio Bensch)

2012 London Olympics: The Final Week in pictures

Courtesy of The Atlantic, more exceptional images from the London 2012 Olympics. These final week pictures should be seen in conjunction with the opening week pictures and the opening ceremony pictures and to come, the closing ceremony pictures.

Playing around, Jamaica’s Usain Bolt takes pictures with a photographer’s camera after winning the men’s 200m final at the Olympic Stadium, on August 9, 2012. (Reuters/Stefano Rellandini)

Rodrigo Pessoa of Brazil, rides his horse Rebozo in the equestrian show jumping competition in London, on August 6, 2012. (AP Photo/David Goldman)

Kenya’s David Lekuta Rudisha celebrates winning the men’s 800-meter semifinal in the Olympic Stadium, on August 9, 2012. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)

Belarus’ Nastassia Mironchyk-Ivanova competes in the women’s long jump final in the Olympic Stadium, on August 8, 2012. (AP Photo/Matt Dunham)

Jamaica’s Usain Bolt, second left, reacts as he crosses the finish line to win the men’s 200-meter final at the 2012 Summer Olympics, on August 9, 2012. (AP Photo/Anja Niedringhaus)

See all the 55 pictures from this set here

The 2012 London Olympics So Far…in pictures

London 2012: The Opening Ceremony – Best Photos

London Olympics 2012 in pictures, the first week