With the music of the Red Hot Chili Peppers blaring, the Paris Olympics handed the torch over to Los Angeles, bringing the 2024 Olympics to a dramatic close.
A-list actor Tom Cruise received the Olympic flag on Sunday and transported it across the globe on his motorbike to Los Angeles.
The cinematographic video sees Cruise riding a jet through the streets of Paris before parachuting into the City of Angels.
The handover ended with skateboarder Jagger Eaton arriving at the Red Hot Chili Peppers stage in Venice Beach, California.
Hit artists Billie Eilish, Snoop Dogg and Dr. Dre also performed.
Swimming superstar Katie Ledecky expressed her desire to compete for the United States in four years’ time during the ceremony.
“I’d love to swim in 2028. It would be awesome to swim in front of a home crowd. I’ll just take it one year at a time,” she told NBC during the ceremony’s broadcast.
But before the Games record closed in Paris, Ledecky and American rower Nick Mead served as flag bearers at the closing ceremony and the U.S. delegation celebrated another Summer Olympic success.
The United States tied with China for gold medals (40) and won the most medals overall (126) during the two-week tournament in the French capital.
Ledecky helped the United States win medals by winning one gold medal each in the women’s 1,500m freestyle and the women’s 800m freestyle, as well as one bronze medal and one silver medal.
Mead played his part in this year’s Games, helping the U.S. team win the gold medal in men’s rowing.
“It’s been amazing. The people of France are … incredibly generous,” he told NBC. “I’m really happy to be able to meet the other athletes because in Tokyo I wasn’t able to connect with all the other great athletes from all over the world. It’s just incredible.”
He added that he was “honored and humbled” to serve as the flag bearer alongside Ledecky, who was the last to enter the stadium.
“We were the last ones to enter the country and now we’re heading to Los Angeles, so this is pretty special,” Ledecky said.
The closing ceremony was filled with the same pomp and pageantry as the opening ceremony, which took place on the Seine River just over two weeks earlier in July.
As part of the artistic vision of Thomas Joly, artistic and stage director of the Closing Ceremony, a character known as the Golden Voyager descended from the roof of the Stade de France, shining gold across the stage.
The performance, which kicked off with the popular song “Lisztomania” by the famous band Phoenix, transformed the closing ceremony into a huge party for Olympic athletes and spectators.
Despite attempts by organizers and security to remove the Olympians from the stage, many remained onstage while the popular French indie rock band played their first song.
Musicians Angel, Justice, Kavinsky and Ezra Koenig also appeared onstage.
