The 2024 Paris Games are coming to a close with a traditional closing ceremony held at the Stade de France, which will feature over a hundred performers, acrobats, dancers and circus artists celebrating the end of the Olympics and looking ahead to the 2028 Los Angeles Games. The ceremony will be broadcast on NBC with a live preshow starting at 2 p.m. ET and the actual ceremony beginning at 3 p.m. ET, lasting over two hours. There will also be an encore telecast during prime time and a broadcast about the 2028 Games at 10 p.m. ET.
The closing ceremony will include a parade of athletes, a display of flags, the lowering of the Olympic flag, and the extinguishing of the Olympic flame. This year, the host city handover from Paris to Los Angeles will take place, with Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo giving the Olympic flag to Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass. Prominent performers from California, including rapper Snoop Dogg and R&B artist H.E.R., will be part of the event, and there is speculation that artists like Billie Eilish, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Phoenix, and Air may also perform. Actor Tom Cruise is rumored to be part of the celebration as well.
Team USA’s flag bearers for the closing ceremony are swimmer Katie Ledecky, the most decorated female Olympian of all time, and rower Nick Mead, who won a gold medal in the men’s four rowing event. The Paralympic flame will be lit shortly after the closing ceremony, with a torch relay through 50 cities in France leading up to the Paralympic Games from August 28 to September 8.
Photo credit
www.nbcnews.com