London 2012: Games set for grand finale

London will bid a spectacular farewell to the 2012 Olympics with a closing ceremony showcasing British music.

The finale will feature about 4,000 performers alongside artists such as George Michael and the Spice Girls.

The US topped the final medal table with 46 golds, followed by China with 38 golds. GB came third with 29 golds - their best tally for 104 years.

The Queen said Team GB's "outstanding" performance had "inspired a new generation of Olympians".

In a special message, she congratulated all the British and Commonwealth athletes who had taken part and said they had "truly captured the public's imagination and earned their admiration".

On the final day of competition, Boxer Anthony Joshua secured the 29th gold for Team GB earlier with victory in the super-heavyweight class.

And in the very last event of the Games, Samantha Murray claimed silver for Britain in the women's modern pentathlon. Lithuania's Laura Asadauskaite took the gold.

In all, 44 world records have been set during London 2012, and 117 Olympic records broken.

Closing ceremony artistic director Kim Gavin has described the event, which will start at 21:00 BST and focus on 50 years of British music, as a "mashed-up symphony".

The park is in shutdown and the final spectators have been making their way home.

The last of the French fans were stragglers, up at the basketball and handball finals arena, singing La Marseillaise to their gold-medal winning team and mashing it up with the White Stripes Seven Nation Army.

Very London 2012.

Tens of thousands of closing ceremony spectators have been shut out of the main stadium. They were standing on the greenway, the concourses and bridges as they waited to go in for Sunday's finale.

An aural preview for them but not a visual one. Rehearsals were still under way here in the stadium, right up to the last minute and the sounds were spilling out across the park. Now they can take their seats.

So the moment has come. The last hurrah of very many hurrahs during the last two weeks. Time to celebrate, extinguish, hand over.

Mr Gavin said it will showcase "British creativity in the arts" and take people on a musical journey from Elgar to Waterloo Sunset in 30 tracks.

Among the acts confirmed to be performing are George Michael, the Spice Girls and rapper Tinie Tempah.

Mr Gavin explained that while the nation flags would process in, the athletes would come in as "friends" to form a "mosh pit" for the show.

During the ceremony, sailor Ben Ainslie, a four-time Olympic gold medallist, will carry the flag for Great Britain.

The Olympic flame will be extinguished and the figurative baton passed to the organisers of the 2016 Games in Rio de Janeiro, who will also make a presentation celebrating their multicultural roots.

It was a successful final day for Team GB, with boxer Anthony Joshua ensuring a golden end to the 16-day competition with victory in his super-heavyweight bout.

The 22-year old from London beat Italian Roberto Cammarelle to win Britain's 29th gold of the Games.

Reacting to his win, Joshua said "Sunday is a holy day and I have been blessed".

He added: "That medal represents my journey and the support from my team. It is much more than a gold medal, it is a life experience."

A post-bout appeal against Joshua's victory by the Italian team was rejected after a countback by the judges.

Welsh fighter Fred Evans had to settle for silver in his welterweight bout against Serik Sapiyev from Kazakhstan.

Meanwhile, with the sun shining, thousands of people lined the streets of London to watch Uganda's Stephen Kiprotich run to men's marathon victory.

Crowds also packed the live site at London's Hyde Park, to watch the sporting action on the big screens and enjoy a farewell concert headlined by Blur.

In other developments:

Mr Cameron said the Olympics had been an "extraordinary few weeks" which had "lifted the whole country and there was a "huge opportunity" to build the legacy for the Games.

He said legacy had been "built into the DNA of London 2012 from the very beginning" and he was "determined to make the most of the economic opportunities on offer from hosting the Games - making sure that we turn these Games into gold for Britain".

The Queen also praised the organisers of the Games and the thousands of volunteers at London 2012 whose "warm welcome" had "epitomised the Olympic spirit".

The International Olympics Committee president Jacques Rogge said he was "very happy" with the Games, and he was a "very happy and grateful man".

"It has been a dream for sports lovers," he said, adding that history had been made by many athletes.

The revamped 560-acre (227-hectare) Olympic Park site - to be known as the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park - is set to reopen in stages starting on the first anniversary of the opening of the Games, on 27 July 2013.

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