Paris 2024 Olympics Conclude with Star-Studded Ceremony, Los Angeles Prepares for 2028

Paris wrapped up an unforgettable two-and-a-half weeks of Olympic sports and emotional moments with a vibrant, celebrity-filled closing ceremony at France’s national stadium on Sunday. The city ceremoniously passed the torch to Los Angeles, the next host of the Summer Games in 2028.

The event featured a dramatic display of Hollywood flair as Tom Cruise made a spectacular entrance, descending from the top of the stadium to the iconic “Mission Impossible” theme. He greeted athletes before receiving the Olympic flag from gymnastics star Simone Biles. Cruise then placed the flag on a motorcycle and exited the stadium. In a prerecorded segment, he continued his adventure, riding past the Eiffel Tower, boarding a plane, and skydiving over the Hollywood Hills. As he descended, three rings were added to the famous Hollywood sign, transforming it into the five interlaced Olympic rings.

This scene was just one of many highlights of the closing ceremony, which marked the end of Paris’ first Olympic Games in a century. The artistic show celebrated Olympic themes with dazzling fireworks, and thousands of athletes joined in the festivities, dancing and celebrating late into the night.

Amidst the excitement, athletes enthusiastically rushed the stage during a highlight reel of the Games, prompting stadium announcements in both French and English to encourage them to return to their seats. Some athletes lingered, surrounding the Grammy-winning French pop-rock band Phoenix as they performed, before security and volunteers gradually cleared the stage.

For Los Angeles, following in Paris’ footsteps could prove to be a formidable challenge. The French capital brilliantly utilized its iconic landmarks, such as the Eiffel Tower, to enhance the spectacle of the Games, making the city itself a star. These landmarks served as backdrops and, in some cases, even as venues for competitions, adding a unique and memorable dimension to the event.

However, Los Angeles is bringing its own star power to the table. Music icons such as Billie Eilish, the Red Hot Chili Peppers, and Snoop Dogg — a familiar face at the Paris Olympics — along with his longtime collaborator Dr. Dre, performed at Venice Beach as part of the handover ceremony from Paris to LA. Each of these artists hails from California, and H.E.R., another California native, performed the U.S. national anthem live at the Stade de France, which hosted Olympic track and field events as well as rugby sevens. The ceremony was attended by an audience expected to exceed 70,000.

The closing ceremony began with a roar from the stadium crowd as French swimmer Léon Marchand, dressed sharply in a suit and tie instead of his usual swimwear, was shown on giant screens collecting the Olympic flame from the Tuileries Gardens in Paris. During the Games, the Olympic cauldron, powered by electricity instead of fossil fuels, lit up the French capital each night, thrilling crowds as it ascended into the sky on a balloon.

As the sun set, casting a pink glow over the stadium, athletes from 205 countries and territories marched in, waving their national flags in a powerful display of global unity. This scene unfolded against the backdrop of global tensions, including conflicts in Ukraine and Gaza, with stadium screens bearing the message, “Together, united for peace.”

With 329 medal events completed, an estimated 9,000 athletes, many proudly wearing their medals, filled the arena, dancing and cheering to the pulsating music. In contrast to the 2021 Tokyo Games, which were delayed by the COVID-19 pandemic and held with minimal fan attendance, the athletes and the crowd in Paris celebrated with unrestrained joy, singing along to Queen’s “We Are the Champions.” French athletes crowd-surfed, while members of the U.S. team jumped and cheered in their Ralph Lauren jackets.

International Olympic Committee President Thomas Bach, who sat alongside French President Emmanuel Macron during the ceremony, delivered a speech emphasizing the Games’ power to foster cultural peace. He highlighted how the athletes “respected each other even if your countries are divided by conflict.”

The Stade de France, France’s largest stadium, has a dark history, having been one of the targets of the Islamic State attacks on November 13, 2015, which claimed 130 lives in and around Paris. The joy and celebration that filled the city during these Games, as Marchand and other French athletes won a total of 64 medals, including 16 golds, marked a significant milestone in the city’s recovery from that night of terror.

The closing ceremony also featured the awarding of the final medals, each containing a piece of the Eiffel Tower. In a fitting gesture for the first Olympics aimed at achieving gender parity, the last medals were awarded to the women’s marathon winners — gold, silver, and bronze — earlier that Sunday. This marked a significant shift from previous Games, where the men’s marathon traditionally closed the event. Paris made a concerted effort to shine a brighter light on the achievements of female athletes, an endeavor fittingly tied to the city that first saw women participate in the Olympics in 1900.

The U.S. team once again topped the medal table, with a total of 126 medals, including 40 golds. Among these, three gold medals were won by Simone Biles, who made a triumphant return to the Olympic stage after prioritizing her mental health over competition at the Tokyo Games in 2021.

In contrast to the rain-soaked but spirited opening ceremony along the Seine River, the closing ceremony took on a more subdued tone, blending space-age and Olympic themes. A golden figure descended spider-like from the sky into a darkened world of smoke and swirling stars, with Olympic symbols taking center stage, including the Greek flag, representing the birthplace of the ancient Games, and the five Olympic rings illuminated in white as tens of thousands of lights glittered in the stadium like fireflies.

Thomas Jolly, the artistic director behind both the opening and closing ceremonies, faced criticism for elements of the opening ceremony. The show was condemned by figures including former U.S. President Donald Trump and French bishops, who believed it mocked Christianity. Jolly and his creative team received death threats and faced online abuse, leading them to file police complaints. The controversy centered on a segment featuring drag queens and a DJ who is also an LGBTQ+ icon, which some critics believed parodied Leonardo Da Vinci’s painting “The Last Supper.” Jolly and his team vehemently denied any such intention, receiving support from President Macron, who expressed his dismay at the backlash, stating he was “outraged and sad” by the controversy.