Paris bids farewell to the 2024 Olympics with a star-studded closing ceremony, blending celebration and a call for peace. The event showcased iconic landmarks and performances, setting the stage for Los Angeles 2028 with a thrilling skydiving stunt by Tom Cruise and a festive atmosphere. The ceremony marked a significant moment in Paris' recovery from past tragedies, emphasizing gender parity and global unity in the world of sports.#Paris #LosAngeles #Olympics #Celebration #Peace
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00:00Setting out to prove that topping Paris isn't mission impossible, Los Angeles rolled out
00:06a skydiving Tom Cruise, Grammy winner Billie Eilish and other stars as it took over Olympic
00:11hosting duties from the French capital, which closed out its 2024 Games just as they started,
00:16with joy and panache.
00:19Capping more than two extraordinary weeks of Olympic sports and emotion, Paris boisterous,
00:25star-studded closing ceremony in France's National Stadium mixed unbridled celebration
00:30with a somber call for peace from International Olympic Committee President Thomas Bach.
00:36Following in Paris' footsteps in 2028 promises to be a challenge, it made spectacular use
00:41of its cityscape for its first Games in 100 years, with the Eiffel Tower and other iconic
00:46monuments becoming Olympic stars in their own right as they served as backdrops and
00:51venues for medal-winning feats.
00:54But the City of Angels like the City of Light showed it to hold some aces.
00:58Cruise, in his Ethan Hunt persona, wowed by descending from the top of the stadium to
01:03electric guitar mission, impossible riffs.
01:08Once his feet were back on the ground, and after shaking hands with enthralled athletes,
01:13he took the Olympic flag from American gymnast Simone Biles, fixed it to the back of a motorcycle
01:18and roared out of the arena.
01:21The appetite-wetting message was clear.
01:24Los Angeles 2028 promises to be an eye-opener too.
01:28Still, this was largely Paris night, its opportunity for one final party.
01:33And what a party it was!
01:36Thousands of athletes danced and sang the night away, reveling in the artistic show
01:40that celebrated Olympic themes and its firework flourishes.
01:45Even Bach got the party bug, jokingly calling the Paris Games sensational, a nod to the
01:50Seine River that, despite water quality concerns, staged Olympic triathlon and marathon swimming
01:56and the wacky and wonderful opening ceremony.
02:00At what will be his last Games after announcing his intention to step down next year, Bach
02:05also made a somber appeal for a culture of peace in a war-torn world.
02:09�We know that the Olympic Games cannot create peace, but the Olympic Games can create a
02:15culture of peace that inspires the world,� he said.
02:19Let us live this culture of peace every single day.
02:23Cruise then provided a change of gear.
02:25After being lowered on a rope lie from the roof-skiddy heights, Cruise drove his bike
02:29past the Eiffel Tower in a pre-recorded segment and onto a plane before skydiving over the
02:34Hollywood Hills.
02:36Three circles were added to the O�s of the famed Hollywood sign, creating five interlaced
02:42Olympic rings.
02:43In the stadium, the athletes� enthusiasm bubbled over when crowds of them rushed the
02:47stage at one point.
02:49Stadium announcements urged them to double back.
02:53Some stayed, creating an impromptu mosh pit around Grammy-winning French pop-rock band
02:57Phoenix as they played, before security and volunteers cleared the stage.
03:02Multiple French athletes crowd-surfed.
03:05United States team members jumped up and down in their Ralph Lauren jackets.
03:10On the stadium�s giant screens, Eilish, the Red Hot Chili Peppers, rapper Snoop Dogg,
03:15wearing pants with the Olympic rings after being a popular feature of the Paris Games,
03:19and Dr. Dre kept the party going in a pre-recorded show from a California beach.
03:25Each is a California native, as is her, who sang the U.S. national anthem live at the
03:30Stade de France, crammed with more than 70,000 people.
03:35The stadium crowd roared as French swimmer Lion Marchand, dressed in a suit and tie instead
03:39of the swim trunks, he wore to win four golds, first collected the Olympic flame from the
03:44artillery�s gardens in Paris.