Jason Owens
2024 Olympics Closing Ceremony: Paris Games come to spectacular close, hand off to Los Angeles
The lead-up to Los Angeles is officially underway
After 17 days, the Paris Olympics have officially come to a close.
The Olympics Closing Ceremony took place at Stade de France on Sunday, complete with an official handoff to Los Angeles for the 2028 Summer Games. The show was spectacular, featuring the parade of nations, a glimmering "Golden Voyager" artistic segment and a dance party starring French rock band Phoenix.
From there, the scene shifted forward, with Hollywood star Tom Cruise taking the baton on the handoff to the Los Angeles Games. Cruise performed stunts at Stade de France and via a prerecorded segment that shifted the scene to L.A., where the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Billie Eilish, Snoop Dogg and Dr. Dre performed in Long Beach.
The scene then shifted back to Paris, where French singer-songwriter Yseult closed things out with a rendition of Frank Sinatra's "My Way," a fitting finish to a Games presented with great pride by the host city.
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And that's it. The Paris Olympics have come to a close. The handoff to Los Angeles in 2028 is official and the leadup is underway. Thanks, Paris, for a spectacular 2024 Games.
- Jason Owens
Paris coming strong to close with a powerful performance of Frank Sinatra's "My Way" by French singer Yseult. The performance ends with a fireworks display at Stade de France.
Mettez du respect sur Yseult svp ! L’une des meilleures vocalistes qu’on ait en France actuellement, les frissons ✨💞 #CeremonieDecloture #Paris2024 pic.twitter.com/VpT59cZapU
— eva (blue lemonade era) 🪩 (@evaaasereje) August 11, 2024
- Jason Owens
Four-time French gold medalist swimmer Léon Marchand carried the Olympic flame on stage via a lantern, where it was extinguished alongside IOC president Thomas Bach. The Paralympics, which start on Aug. 28 in Paris, were introdud
- Jason Owens
The scene has now shifted back to Paris to extinguish the Olympic flame.
- Jason Owens
Now Dr. Dre's on stage. This is an L.A. party.
DR DRE IS HERE WITH SNOOP DOGG WHAT A MOMENT #LA2028 #JeuxOlympiques #ClosingCeremony pic.twitter.com/nfm3V5Nlno
— FabiShow (@fabien_fichaux) August 11, 2024
- Kari Anderson
Snoop Dogg has spent the last two weeks all over Paris but is back stateside. He's performing "Drop It Like It's Hot" in front of a couple of definitely fake "sand" statues with a stylized LA '28 logo and a couple of giant dogs.
- Jason Owens
Now Snoop's up on the Long Beach stage, his Paris NBC duties officially done.
- Ian Casselberry
The Olympics go Hollywood
Tom Cruise's jump from Stade de France, then taking a motorcycle ride to a plane he skydived from eventually had a nice visual payoff. What was Cruise doing on the famous Hollywood sign? Giving it an Olympic touch.
Tom Cruise did it again.. didn’t he? pic.twitter.com/XPTW8hhAxM
— Pat McAfee (@PatMcAfeeShow) August 11, 2024
- Jason Owens
After a prerecorded Tom Cruise stunt montage, the Red Hot Chili Peppers are now performing in Long Beach in another prerecorded segment. We've taken a sharp turn from the pomp of Paris to California beach vibes. Billie Eilish is up next on a lifeguard tower.
Ooooooooh yeeaah Red Hot Chili Peppers 😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍
"Can't stop the spirits when they need you,
This life is more than just a read-through"#CeremonieDeCloture #Paris2024 pic.twitter.com/PiB8Q2YDgO— ⭐ クラオディオ ❤️ シャドウ ⛩️ (@ClaudioACSy) August 11, 2024
Fan de la parejita que mira el mar tan a gustito pasando del show de Billie Eilish y de los Red Hot Chili Peppers #CeremoniaDeClausura pic.twitter.com/g3L7iCP7Xf
— Santi (@santibone) August 11, 2024
- Kari Anderson
Cruise's stunt lead to a pre-recorded video that takes the flag through Los Angeles, with American runner Michael Johnson and recent skateboarding silver medalist Jagger Eaton among those that help carry the flag through mountains, into the Los Angeles Coliseum and to the beach.
It leads to a live feed of the artists, who are performing live from Long Beach.
- Kari Anderson
Tom Cruise is here to helped transition the Olympics from Paris to LA 2028. He did a stunt from the top of Stade de France down to the bottom of the stadium. He's now wading through a crowd of athletes who are thrilled to see him.
Cruise then takes the Olympic flag from Biles and puts it into the back of a motorcycle before riding off into the distance. A Hollywood ending.
TOM CRUISE! #ParisOlympics | #ClosingCeremony pic.twitter.com/ATiKiufrV8
— NBC Olympics & Paralympics (@NBCOlympics) August 11, 2024
- Ian Casselberry
The Olympic flag is passed
As mentioned earlier, the Olympic flag passing from Paris mayor Anne Hidalgo to Los Angeles mayor Karen Bass is the first to take place between women mayors.
Handing the Olympics off to Los Angeles for 2028 ⏳
(via @NBCOlympics)pic.twitter.com/RjXbQmrnpQ— Yahoo Sports (@YahooSports) August 11, 2024
Both Hidalgo and Bass are the first woman mayors for their respective cities.
- Kari Anderson
With the Olympic flag having been passed from Anne Hidalgo to Karen Bass, the "Star-Spangled Banner" is now being performed by American artist H.E.R.
Bass is accompanied by Simone Biles, who is holding the flag and — notably — is wearing a boot on her left foot.
- Jason Owens
Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass and Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo are on stage for the official handoff to the 2028 Games.
- Jason Owens
The Olympic flag is being lowered, and the Paris Games are coming ever closer to an end.
- Jason Owens
Bach commended the Paris Games as "younger, more urban, more inclusive, more sustainable. The first-ever Olympic Games with full gender parity."
- Kari Anderson
Bach, by the way, recently announced that he will be leaving the position after this year, opting to not alter the current rules, which impose a 12-year term limit. Bach has been IOC president since 2013.
- Jason Owens
IOC president Thomas Bach has the mic. We're moving closer to the handoff from Paris to Los Angeles.
- Kari Anderson
Estanguet also thanks the volunteers and other workers who have helped these Olympics run. He finishes with a few sentences in English, praising the athletes and speaking about how thrilling these games have been.
Estanguet added a note that the 2024 Olympics have had the most proposals of any Olympic games. Several athletes have either proposed to their partners or been proposed to. It is the City of Love, after all.
- Kari Anderson
Tony Estanguet tosses in a shoutout to France's Léon Marchand, who won four swimming golds for France and earned the honor of extinguishing the torch, in his address
"We wanted to be inspired, we got Léon Marchand," he said, earning a big cheer from the crowd. Pandering, perhaps, but effective.
- Jason Owens
Tony Estanguet, the president of the Paris organizing committee, is now speaking, giving thanks to everyone who made the Games happen and celebrating the Paris effort.
"Tonight, I have never felt so proud to be French."
- Ian Casselberry
Surfing on Team USA
Has there ever been crowd surfing at an Olympics closing ceremony? Phoenix lead singer Thomas Mars may have broken a barrier in Stade de France.
CAREFUL THOMAS MARS!#ParisOlympics | #ClosingCeremony pic.twitter.com/wVgBHsqGxq
— NBC Olympics & Paralympics (@NBCOlympics) August 11, 2024
With all due respect to breaking, this has potential for another future Olympic event.
- Jason Owens
A taste of the dance party with Belgian singer Angèle, French DJ Kavinsky and Phoenix joining forces:
🇫🇷 QUEL TRIO ! Angèle x Phoenix x Kavinsky sur "Nightcall" au Stade de France. (France 2) #CeremoniedeCloture pic.twitter.com/2nAmJ5DmL8
— Mediavenir (@Mediavenir) August 11, 2024
- Kari Anderson
After trading off with some other artists, Phoenix is sticking with the hits and finishes with "1901." The crowd and the athletes are loving it.
Phoenix's lead singer hops into the middle of Team USA and does some crowd surfing, and the set caps things off with some confetti.
- Jason Owens
Vampire Weekend's Ezra Koenig has now joined Phoenix on stage. We've officially moved on to the party segment of the Closing Ceremony after a stunning artistic segment. French DJ Kavinsky also keeping the dance party going.
- Kari Anderson
French indie band Phoenix is now performing, playing their hit song "Lisztomania," which was released in 2009. Athletes have stormed the stage for the impromptu rock concert.
- Kari Anderson
Dancers have spent this performance climbing and doing acrobatics on large circles metal circles. In the end, the circles are released towards the top of the arena and form the five Olympic rings. This whole sequence has looked quite stunning.
(Photo by Michael Reaves/Getty Images) (Photo by MOHD RASFAN / AFP) (Photo by MOHD RASFAN/AFP via Getty Images) - Jason Owens
Now a grand piano and its player have been lifted from below the stage. The pianist Alain Roche is playing while vertically dangling from wires. What a spectacle.
Alain Roche plays a piano while dangling midair at the Olympics Closing Ceremony at Stade de France. (AP Photo/Ashley Landis) - Jason Owens
Per NBC, this segment featuring the Golden voyager includes 110 performers and imagines a rebirth of the Olympic Games in a world where they didn't exit.
- Jason Owens
The spectacle is underway. A glimmering "Golden Voyager" is being lowered into Stade de France from the rafters.
The Golden Voyager has entered the building. (AP Photo/David Goldman) - Jason Owens
Now the show's about to start. The lights are down in Stade de France, and the on-field orchestra has been cued up.
- Jason Owens
Olympic volunteers are now having their moment, honored in the Closing Ceremony. Per NBC, more than 45,000 people volunteered to make the Paris Games go.
- Kari Anderson
Hassan is able to hear the Netherlands' anthem played in her honor, in front of the entire athlete delegation and the tens of thousands in the Stade de France crowd. Incredibly cool moment.
- Jason Owens
The parade is over, and women's marathon medalists are having their medal ceremony. Netherlands' Sifan Hassan won gold earlier in the day. What a cool spot to be awarded an Olympic medal.
- Jason Owens
Meanwhile, here's Nikola Jokić, not at Stade de France, but back home in Sombor at the horse track a day after leading Serbia to basketball bronze in Paris. Because of course he is.
🃏 Nikola Jokić je stigao u Sombor gde će pratiti Kasački derbi! pic.twitter.com/rVB7TXEjTb
— Arena Sport TV (@arenasport_tv) August 11, 2024
- Kari Anderson
They're now playing Queen's "We Are the Champions," and athletes are passionately singing along. Apparently athlete karaoke is exactly what it sounds like.
WE ARE THE CHAMPIONS 🥇
The @usrowing men’s four team was ready.
📺: @NBCOlympics & @peacock#ParisOlympics pic.twitter.com/uE1vgl5MDi— Team USA (@TeamUSA) August 11, 2024
- Kari Anderson
There are quite a few handheld fans out as well, especially among the Americans, who are wearing racing-style coats and long pants. It's currently 81 degrees in Paris, where it's almost 10 p.m. local time. The sun has just set, and the last of the light has left the sky.
- Jason Owens
Something dubbed athlete karaoke is underway. Probably a good time for a commercial break.
- Kari Anderson
The mass of United States athletes is excitedly dancing, taking selfies, and chatting as the ceremony continues. There's a French athlete crowd-surfing over a line of other members of Team France. Generally, the vibes are jovial.
- Jason Owens
Former Olympic figure skaters Tara Lipinski and Johnny Weir have taken over the mic from Mike Tirico and and Jimmy Fallon on the NBC broadcast. Their perspective from their experience as Olympic athletes is always insightful.
- Jason Owens
U.S. athletes are taking the field.
- Jason Owens
A look at Katie Ledecky and Nick Mead carrying the U.S. flag. The full U.S delegation of athletes is waiting for its turn to take the field.
Katie Ledecky and Nick Mead serving as USA's flag bearers for the closing ceremony 🫡 pic.twitter.com/lbYNbK6RD0
— Yahoo Sports (@YahooSports) August 11, 2024
- Kari Anderson
Delegations might look smaller than they did in the opening ceremony: Many athletes, especially ones that competed early in the games, can opt to head home early. Still, the Team USA crowd looks particularly big from inside the tunnel, where they wait to enter the stadium.
- Jason Owens
This really is a celebration for the athletes, who are dancing and smiling as they take the field. Those with medals are proudly showing them off.
- Jason Owens
Each nation sent two flag bearers in first. Now the full delegation of athletes is joining the flag bearers on the field for the party.
- Jason Owens
NBC hosts Mike Tirico and Jimmy Fallon are making awkward small talk with Ledecky and Mead in their ear pieces as they walk with the flag.
- Jason Owens
Katie Ledecky (swimming) and Nick Mead (rowing) just walked in to the Stade de France with the American flag.
- Jason Owens
The parade of nations is now underway in a packed Stade de France. As is tradition, Greece leads the way.
- Ian Casselberry
Tom Cruise's closing ceremony mission
The Paris Olympics closing ceremony will reportedly finish with an elaborate stunt from Tom Cruise.
The plan is for the "Mission: Impossible" star – or perhaps a stunt double – to rappel from the top of Stade de France to the field to carry the Olympic flag. NBC's broadcast will then cut to a previously recorded video of Cruise flying from Paris to Los Angeles, then skydiving from the plane down to the Hollywood sign, according to TMZ.
Tom Cruise is rumored to perform a skydiving stunt during the Paris Olympics closing ceremony, handing off to the 2028 L.A. Games, according to People. He will transport the Olympic flag from Paris, reportedly landing on the Hollywood sign. https://t.co/HOloQ9fTSt pic.twitter.com/I22YNTHviV
— Yahoo Entertainment (@YahooEnt) August 2, 2024
Cruise reportedly approached the IOC about participating in the closing ceremony and proposed performing a series of stunts during the proceedings. The actor was previously involved in Olympic processions, carrying the torch through L.A. on its way to Athens, Greece in the lead-up to the 2004 Games.
- Jason Owens
The flame will make its way from Paris to the Stade de France, just north of the city.