Check out highlights from LA's star-studded Olympics handoff in Paris. Onward to the 2028 Games

Published Aug 11, 2024 3:08 PM

Blue, yellow, purple, green and red puffs in the air represent the Olympic rings on the beach.

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It's official.

The International Olympic Committee has called on the athletes of the world to gather again in Los Angeles in 2028, closing out the games of the XXXIII Summer Olympic games in Paris.

The Olympic flag was passed on stage from Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo to Thomas Bach, in his final games as president of International Olympic Committee to Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass, who waved it back and forth before walk it over to gymnast Simone Biles.

@nbcolympics The Summer Olympics are now officially in the hands of Los Angeles. 🇺🇸 #ParisOlympics ♬ original sound - NBC Olympics & Paralympics

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A Black woman in a red dress waves the Olympic flag as a white man in suit applauds.

A Hollywood-style show

The games closed with a dramatic series of stunts kicked off by Tom Cruise. The worldwide superstar rappelled from the roof of the Stade de France to its floor. H.E.R., who had just performed the "The Star-Spangled Banner," rocked out on guitar as Cruise made his way through the air to pick up the Olympic flag.

Olympics: LA 2028

Cruise ran through a gauntlet of athletes (pausing for selfies) and onto the stage to take the Olympic flag from L.A. Mayor Karen Bass and gymnastics superstar Simone Biles.

From there, Cruise took a motorbike to the streets of Paris, riding past the Eiffel Tower and onto a cargo plane. The clearly pre-taped sequence then had him parachute into Los Angeles where he stapled fabric Olympic rings to the Hollywood sign.

That particular stunt had a lot of Angelenos looking to the hills to see if those rings were really out, asking folks with a view to take a look during the live daytime broadcast of the closing cerememonies. (The answer was they were not there, the scene was apparently filmed back in the spring, Hollywood-style).

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From the Hollywood sign, Cruise handed the flag off for a relay that took it past L.A.'s City Hall, Memorial Coliseum and through city streets to the beach.

A man descend through the air on a wire.

A man with light-tone skin descends to a stage from a wire. The sillhouette of a woman in red is in the foreground.

A man with light-tone skin walks with a flag away from two women, both with dark-tone skin. All are smiling.

A man with light-tone skin hold the Olympic flag and grins

Man on motorike speeds past crowd on both sides of a narrow aisle

The headlight of a motorbike are on as a man ride past people waving the flags of various countries.

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On the beach

For view worldwide, the flag then made its way through sleight of hand all the way to the Pacific Ocean. There, a star-studded concert in Long Beach (filmed Saturday) kicked off with Red Hot Chili Peppers, then Billie Eilish. Snoop Dogg and Dr. Dre closed out the performance in Snoop's hometown.

A man and a woman with light-tone skin sit on the steps of a pale aqua lifeguard station. He plays a guitar and she holds a mic. In the background a person with dark-tone skin has an electric guitar.

LA28 we ready!!! Closing ceremony vibes wit @drdre yall 🇺🇸🇫🇷💯👊🏿 pic.twitter.com/sxLnlRq00Z
— Snoop Dogg (@SnoopDogg) August 12, 2024

Two Black men perform on stage in front of big LA 28 sign, the A is represented by the flags of France and the U.S.