2024 Olympics: Paris Games conclude with Tom Cruise, H.E.R. performance and L.A. handover (2024)

Triumphs, challenges and unity in Paris: A glorious farewell to the 2024 Olympics

Daniel Arkin

Alexander Smith

Daniel Arkin and Alexander Smith

In case you didn’t know, the sports program for each Olympics changes ever so slightly.

Typically, sports are added or taken away based on interest and compatibility with the host city, but they could make or break the list depending on a number of factors.

No, you won’t be missing out on gymnastics or swimming at the L.A. Games in 2028, but a few notable sports will be left off the roster.

For one, breaking, which made its Olympic debut in Paris, isn’t going to be a part of the 2028 Games. TBD whether it will ever return to the Olympics.

The 2028 Olympics will be held in Los Angeles, and officials say they’re hoping to limit traffic.

The host committee is aiming for the country’s most climate-conscious Games, and it will make existing Olympic venues accessible only by public transportation. The city will also ask people to work from home.

NBC News’ Steve Patterson reports on how organizers plan to make it happen.

The 2024 Paris Games are coming to a close — and now spectators are looking toward L.A. 2028.

California artists H.E.R., the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Billie Eilish and Snoop Dogg performed as a nod to the next host city. Actor Tom Cruise also did a stunt for the handover.

R&B artist H.E.R. played the U.S. national anthem as the host city duties were handed over from Paris to Los Angeles.

Read the full story here.

Reporting from Paris

Hitting a bull's-eye with Olympic glory on the line can’t be any more pressure-packed than hitting a target — while falling out of a plane.

Paralympic archer Matt Stutzman said a big part of his Paris preparation was honing his ability to focus with adrenaline pumping through his body.

So he’s been skydiving as part of his training.

“I couldn’t figure out how to practice with adrenaline going through my body,” Stutzman told NBC’s “The Podium” podcast.

He added: “The thought came across my mind to force myself to have adrenaline, and that was to jump out of a plane. So I thought, 'Hey, if I could jump out of a plane and land close to a target while I got all this adrenaline pumping through my system ... I can quickly learn how to handle that adrenaline.'”

Many assumed that Simone Biles would retire after her Paris“redemption tour”came to an end. But afterwinning her 10th Olympic medalin the vault final, Biles said for the first time that the Los Angeles Games in 2028 are still on the table.

“Never say never,” Biles said. “The next Olympics is athome, so you just never know, but I am getting really old.”

At 27, Biles was already transcending age barriers in a sport notorious for brief careers and early retirements. Her appearance in Paris makes her the oldest U.S. Olympic gymnast in 72 years.

The Olympics will be held on home soil in L.A. in 2028, the first domestic Summer Olympics since Atlanta in 1996. If Biles makes it to that event, she will be 31.

In a highly anticipated stunt, Tom Cruise rappelled into the Stade de France from the roof. Once on the ground, he hopped on a motorcycle, which he appeared to drive into a plane before he jumped out over L.A., cementing the Olympic flag's journey to the U.S. for the next Olympic Games.

H.E.R. performed the U.S. national anthem at the 2024 Paris Olympics closing ceremony to transition the Games to L.A. 2028.

Don't fret, Simone Biles is OK.

The boot she's wearing is "precautionary," Biles told Hoda Kotb on the "TODAY" show on Tuesday, after her gymnastics events had wrapped.

"We're resting up as much as possible," Biles said. "We have tour in a couple weeks. So I'm just going to rest and heal."

Biles' calf had been bothering her throughout the Paris Games — she noticeably wore tape on her lower leg for every event. Ahead of the individual floor final, she fell during warmups, prompting her to get her calf taped even more tightly.

I mean "night, night," Jimmy Fallon said.

Fallon named Curry's performance in the men's basketball gold medal game one of his top five Paris moments. He also shouted out LeBron James' skills on the court.

Mike Tirico agreed, saying, "That was a special game."

The stacked U.S. team ended up on top, beating France 98-87.

See all of Curry's best moments in the men's basketball gold medal match between Team USA and France.

After two Olympics without spectators, sports fans from all over the world journeyed to Paris to cheer their hearts out.

The 2024 Paris Olympics belonged to women.

These were the first Games in history to achieve gender parity in terms of having an equal number of women and men compete.

Women shone on the world stage, beating many records along the way. Perhaps most impressive is the sheer number of medals won by U.S. women.

They took 67 out of Team USA’s 126 total — outdoing the men by seven (though one of those medals,Jordan Chiles’ bronze, has been called into question after the IOC asked her to cede it to Romania).

If American women were their own nation, they would have won the third-most medals, behind only the U.S. and China — and that would be true even without Chiles’ bronze.

Read the full story here.

Host Jimmy Fallon is sharing his top five moments of the Paris Games through the prime-time broadcast of the closing ceremony.

Up first: No. 5.

Fallon said his fifth-favorite Paris moment was when Team USA pommel horse phenom Stephen Nedoroscik won two gymnastics medals — bronzes in the team final and the individual pommel horse final.

Nedoroscik also captured the internet's attention — and hearts — immediately, becoming an early meme of the Paris Games.

"That guy is unbelievable," Fallon said. "All he had to do was just do OK, and then he just nailed it, and then when he did it, I felt like I was part of the team, it was so emotional."

Nederoscik will be the guest on the "Tonight Show" on Tuesday.

See all the best shots from the 360 camera at the 2024 Paris Olympic Games.

Reporting from Paris

President Emmanuel Macron celebrated his country’s success at the Olympics and turned the tables on Jimmy Fallon, who hosted tonight’s closing ceremony.

Macron said that unlike Fallon’s sketches, modern France brought more than “just baguette and Camembert” to the Olympics, expressing pride in how the French people brought their own traditions and enthusiasm to show the world what a great nation it can be.

Macron joked that Fallon, the host of NBC’s “Tonight Show,” “is a roommate” at the Élysée Palace in a nod to his lighthearted request to stay there after he learned of his role closing out the Games.

Speaking with NBC News at the presidential palace in Paris today, Macron expressed optimism about the potential for the global community to “do great things” together. He said he even appreciated the jokes about French clichés because the European nation was able to show its unique landscapes, heritage and culture over the last two weeks.

Read the full story here.

Paris was a phoenix return for Simone Biles, who won her 11th Olympic medal and seventh gold. In the team event, she officially became the most decorated American gymnast in the history of the Olympic Games, surpassing “Magnificent Seven” member Shannon Miller’s seven-medal record.

Biles will leave Paris with four medals: three golds and a silver. Her withdrawal from multiple events in Tokyo because of the "twisties" brought on a deluge of criticism, but her triumphant Olympic encore in Paris underscored the bravery of her decision then.

“I think that putting your mental health first and taking time for yourself, whether you’re in sports or not, it creates longevity in sports specifically, but also for just a better, healthier lifestyle,” Biles told reporters in Paris. “So I think it’s really important that we put our mental health first and then everything else will fall into place.”

Of any lingering haters, Biles said, “They’re really quiet now.”

Reporting from Los Angeles

When the Olympics come to Los Angeles in 2028, swimming won’t have its traditional place in the beginning of the Games.

Because the nearly brand-new SoFi Stadium in Inglewood will be used both for the opening ceremony and for swimming in two pools, the traditional schedule for swimming will be flipped.

“One of the byproducts of putting two swimming pools in SoFi and then having opening ceremonies there is you’ve got to uncover them and get ready,” Casey Wasserman, chairman of LA 2028, told NBC in June.

“So we flipped the calendar. It hasn’t been done since before 1972,” he told NBC’s Mike Tirico then.

SoFi Stadium, which opened in 2020, is the home of the Los Angeles Rams and the Los Angeles Chargers NFL teams.

“Swimming at SoFi will be, I think, unlike any event ever seen,” Wasserman said.

Missed the closing ceremony?

Full prime-time coverage of the Olympics and the closing ceremony begins tonight on NBC and Peaco*ck at 7 p.m. ET.

Casey Wasserman, chairman of the Los Angeles 2028 Games, sits down with Mike Tirico to speak about what’s in store for the Olympics the next time around when they return to the U.S.

Reporting from Los Angeles

In 2028, Olympic gymnasts will compete in the storied home of the Los Angeles Lakers while swimmers will battle in pools at SoFi Stadium, where the Los Angeles Rams and Chargers play football.

Olympic events will be spread all over the sprawling Los Angeles metropolitan area — with fencing and other events at the Los Angeles Convention Center downtown, golf in Pacific Palisades and cycling in the city of Carson, organizers have said.

The city of Long Beach (where this year’s Olympics special correspondent Snoop Dogg grew up), will host handball, canoe sprint and sailing, among other water events.

Swimming will be held at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood and gymnastics at the Crypto.com Arena, formerly known as the Staples Center.

Track and field events will be at Memorial Coliseum in the Exposition Park area of the city, where the USC Trojans play.

While some venues are known by the names of corporate sponsors, like SoFi and Crypto.com, the Los Angeles Olympics will not use corporate names for Games purposes, and it has referred to the gymnastics venue as the “Arena,” for one example.

For those who don't find the Summer Olympics as stimulating as the Winter Games, the next events in Italy are just two short years away.

The 2026 events include skiing, snowboarding and — a fan favorite — figure skating.

The Milan-Cortina Olympic Winter Games will take place from Feb. 6 to Feb. 22 in several regions around Milan and Cortina d’Ampezzo — the main locations.

The upcoming Games will be the fourth Italy has hosted. In 1956, it hosted theWinter Olympics in Cortina d’Ampezzo, in 1960 it held the Summer Olympics in Rome, and in 2006 it held the Winter Olympics in Turin.

In a final performance as the Games officially closed in Paris, Yseult sang the song "My Way" made famous by Frank Sinatra and composed by French composer Jacques Revauxand French lyricists Gilles Thibaut andClaude François.

After the song ended, fireworks erupted around the Stade de France.

The closing ceremony began with French swimming sensation Léon Marchand carrying the Olympic flame. As the ceremony winds to a close, Marchand again carried the flame in a small lantern from a hot air balloon back into the Stade de France.

He brought it onstage alongside Thomas Bach and some athletes. Together, they extinguished the flame, officially closing out the Paris Games once and for all.

While the Olympic Games may be coming to a close, the Paralympics begin in just a few weeks.

The Paralympics, which are also being hosted in Paris, start Aug. 28 and run for 11 days. The official Olympics and Paralympics website promises an opening ceremony with the same level of spectacle as the Olympics.

"Thanks to a groundbreaking approach, numerous sites and venues across France and French overseas territories (including village squares, gardens, parks, stadiums, school playgrounds and exceptional sites like Trocadéro, the Hôtel de Ville square in Paris and Parc de la Villette) will become places of celebration and events during the summer of 2024," the website says.

Roughly 4,400 athletes will compete in 22 sports.

Joining Snoop Dogg's beachside performance is Dr. Dre. Snoop and Dre sang "The Next Episode" together.

Reporting from Paris

The crowd in the fan park outside the stadium were loving the Los Angeles talent gracing the closing ceremony. But now Snoop Dogg and Dr. Dre have shown up the place is popping off.

People are on their feet, cheering, singing along. Lots of transatlantic love in here tonight.

Taking the baton from Billie, it's Snoop Dogg singing "Drop It Like It's Hot" among sandcastles on the beach in a bedazzled white USA blazer and pants with red and blue stripes and an Olympic rings shirt underneath.

And then ... Dr. Dre.

"L.A. 2028!" Dre said.

Billie Eilish and her brother, Finneas, followed that very L.A. performance from the Red Hot Chili Peppers with their own beachfront concert of "Birds of a Feather."

They, like they athletes, got some Ralph Lauren merch to wear for the closing ceremonies, as well.

After skydiving down from a plane to the tunes of the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Tom Cruise turned the "Hollywood" sign into the Olympic rings, marking the handoff of the Games.

The stunt was followed by a montage of American athletes carrying the flag through Los Angeles, including mountain biker Kate Courtney and skateboarder Jagger Eaton.

The montage finished with a crowd arriving at a Chili Peppers performance on the beach.

The "Mission: Impossible" star was lowered from the top of the Stade de France in a harness after the duties of host city were handed over from Paris to Los Angeles.

The action star took the Olympic flag from Simone Biles and Los Angeles Myor Karen Bass. He attached the flag to the back of a motorcycle and drove away, starting the flag's journey to the U.S.

He appeared to drive the motorcycle into a plane and jumped out.

Cruise had been spotted in the stands watching various events at the Olympics, including artistic gymnastics, swimming and track and field.

He had been in Europe before the Olympics filming the next installment of the "Mission: Impossible" series.

"The Star-Spangled Banner" has played at least 40 times during the Games, representing 40 gold medal wins.

After the Olympic flag was handed off to Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass, she gave it to Simone Biles to hold while H.E.R. sang "The Star-Spangled Banner."

Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass’ office says she’s the first Black woman mayor to receive the five-ring Olympic flag during the closing ceremony. But the mayor emphasized another element of the handover, which involved leaders who are the first women to lead their respective cities.

“We will be sharing a historic moment as I receive the flag from her,” Bass said at a news conference yesterday, referring to receiving the flag from Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo. “And when we do that exchanging of the flag, we will be sending a message to girls all across the world that they can do anything. They can run for the gold, and they can run for office, or hopefully they’ll do both.”

Bass traveled to the 2024 Paris Olympics as part of a White House delegation led by first lady Jill Biden. She said she will bring the flag to Los Angeles upon her return tomorrow.

R&B singer H.E.R., who is from California, is singing the "The Star-Spangled Banner" to honor the transition of host cities.

The president of the International Olympic Committee, Thomas Bach, thanked athletes for creating a sense of peace and unity during the Games.

"During all this time, you lived peacefully together in the Olympic Village. You embraced each other, you respected each other, even if your countries are divided by war and conflict. You created a culture of peace," Bach said to thunderous applause.

"This inspired all of us and billions of people across the globe. Thank you for making us dream; thank you for making us believe in a better world for everyone," Bach said.

Bach, a former fencer, plans to step down next year after presiding over six Games, so these will be his last Olympics as IOC president.

"We know that the Olympic Games cannot create peace, but the Olympic Games can create a culture of peace that inspires the world," he said. "This is why I call on everyone who shares this Olympic spirit: Let us live this culture of peace every single day."

Bach praised the Games for achieving gender parity, calling the Games a new era.

"The Games were 'Seine-sational,' from start to finish," Bach joked to a collective groan from the crowd.

Plenty of Olympic records have been set at the Paris Games, according to Tony Estanguet, president of Paris 2024, including audience levels, attendance levels and decibel levels.

But the Paris Games broke a "new record that is very close to our hearts: most marriage proposals ever at an Olympic games," Estanguet said.

"This feeling of hope, inspiration and love will remain," he said.

He didn't specify how many proposals there were; some of them that gained online popularity drew criticism for overshadowing female Olympians' gold medal moments.

Estanguet seemed honored that so many athletes chose these Games to propose.

In remarks to the athletes who will be leaving Paris, Paris Games President Tony Estanguet acknowledged the work needed for the competitors to make it this far.

"Your efforts have been magnificently rewarded today," he said.

He said the committee had hoped for strong competition in Paris.

“We wanted strong images. Our competition venues will go down in the history of the Games," he said. "We wanted excitement; we got passion. We wanted to be inspired; we got Léon Marchand.”

Estanguet also thanked the volunteers who "infused a party spirit" into the Games.

While Phoenix and other performers put on a show for the crowd, the athletes appear to be having the time of their lives. Many are jumping up and down with the music and singing along to songs like "1901" and "Lisztomania."

Phoenix's lead singer, Thomas Mars, dived into the crowd of Olympians, stepping off the continent-shaped stage into the arms of the Colombian and American delegations.

Reporting from Paris

This montage of moments from the Games is eliciting cheers from the Club 2024 fan park next to the Stade de France, especially when French swimming star Léon Marchand comes on screen.

There are Gallic gasps, too, at the bike crashes, boxing big hits and other assorted crunching sporting moments included in this tape.

Now French indie band Phoenix have come on stage, people are dancing and clapping along.

Iconic indie rock band Phoenix was tapped to perform in the closing ceremony in a celebration of French artists and their influence on music.

Following the athletes’ parade, Phoenix began a celebration of French artistry with a performance of “Lisztomania.” It also played “If I Ever Feel Better” and “1901.”

The dancers hoisted the rings above them, assembling the Olympic rings in the sky. Coming together as one, the golden figure and its dancers are successful: The Olympics are back.

Opera tenor Benjamin Bernheim sang "Hymn to Apollo" accompanied by pianist Alain Roche.

Roche, dressed in a costume made from VHS tape reels, dangled vertically with his piano from the top of the arena.

Reporting from Paris

Across a busy highway overpass from the Olympic Stadium, thousands of people whodidn’tget tickets for the closing ceremony are enjoying perhaps the next best thing.

The Club 2024 viewing park features a big screen, a bar and food trucks. And entry is free.

On the other side of the road, a corner of the Stade de France looms, with lasers from the show inside beaming into the night sky accompanying a glowing half moon.

At least four helicopters buzzed overhead, a reminder of the colossal securityoperation that’sbeen put in place to make these Games possible.

“It’ssuch a great atmosphere,” said Mary Mathurin, 21, a student enjoying the show with friends. “Usually Paris is such a crazy city with people rushing everywhere, but right nowit’ssuch a peaceful yet celebratory atmosphere.”

In a scene set in a dystopian future without the Olympics, the dancers descended from the skies onto the stage — shaped like the five continents — to unearth the Olympic rings.

A golden voyager is descending into the arena. The figure is masked in head-to-toe gold.

Allyson Felix, the most decorated American female track and field athlete, joins three other new members of the IOC Athletes' Commission.

The Olympics requires tens of thousands of volunteers to run smoothly, and at the closing ceremony that service was recognized and celebrated.

An estimated 45,000 people volunteered during the Games.

With the pressure of competition behind them, Olympians and spectators alike are relaxing and soaking in the celebratory mood during the closing ceremony.

Athletes sang along to music and took selfies as they filed into the Stade de France with a warm, rain-free night as their backdrop.

Relive the most thrilling, heart-stopping finishes on the track at the 2024 Paris Olympic Games.

Sifan Hassan of the Netherlands won the gold in this morning's women's marathon. She broke the Olympic record with a time of 2:22:55.

It was her third medal of the Games; she also won bronze in the women's 10,000 and 5,000 meters.

Ethiopia's Tigst Assefa received the silver, while Kenya's Hellen Obiri got the bronze.

The athletes are taking part in what has been dubbed "athlete karaoke," in which they sing along to songs played in the stadium.

One of the songs was "We Are the Champions" by Queen.

Outside the Stade de France, Paris had the feel of a city desperately trying to soak up every remaining moment of these Games.

The setting sun cast a powdery pink light over the Champs-Élysées, as crowds of people dressed in the yellows of Brazil, the oranges of the Netherlands, the reds of China, the greens of Nigeria and too many other hues to count took in the event’s final evening.

It’s not just the sports that have transformed this city, nor the uplift in the traditionally surly French mood that every Parisian will jokingly tell you about. It’s the mass closure of dozens of downtown streets to cars, turning them into oases of bikes, kids playing safely and general joie de vivre. It’s the dramatic improvement in the punctuality and frequency of the Metro, which France’s Le Figaro newspaper today called an “enchanted interlude” for the transit system that many cityfolk would like to continue.

Next week the country will wake up from this reverie, crashing back to the reality of its divided legislature in the wake of recent elections in which the far-right vote increased. But right now the city is allowing itself one more evening of Olympic escapism.

The Paris Games have been marked by two weather patterns: rain and heat.

While the opening ceremonies were hit with sheets of rain, tonight's closing ceremony appears to be a bit warm. The temperature in Paris right now is 83 degrees.

Team USA athletes have fans to cool themselves down, and plenty have taken off their jackets.

Team USA is entering now, fitted in red, white and blue Ralph Lauren head to toe.

If you found yourself tearing up these games, you're not alone.

Humans can cry any time they feel overwhelmed, in awe or helpless. And when humans are particularly attached to sports, teams, countries, identity groups or particular athletes, it's instinctual to cry.

But the games heighten all of those emotions, according to experts who spoke to Time magazine.

Emotions are particularly heightened during intense sporting events — like the Olympics, which happen only every four years. The Olympics' relative rarity heightens the stakes. Tear ducts are connected to our parasympathetic nervous system, which calms us down after we have become excited, so intense events naturally stimulate tears, Randolph Cornelius, professor emeritus in Vassar College's department of psychology, told Time.

Add to that that the Olympics are a moment for international unity. The games are a vessel for many uncomplicated feelings of nationalism, allowing for an ability to root for one's country while momentarily pushing aside deep political or personal disagreements we might have with our countrypeople.

To top it off, we become more empathetic (ahem, more tearful) when we root for similar results as other people, Stephanie Preston, a psychology professor at the University of Michigan, told Time. Even though most viewers aren't competitive athletes, we can empathize with the athletes and all they have gone through as they strive for gold.

As Nick Mead and Katie Ledecky entered the arena, carrying the American flag, they talked about the emotion of entering the arena.

“There’s a lot of countries in front of us; we’re the last ones to walk in," Ledecky said. "That’s pretty special since we’re headed to L.A. next.”

Mead said he got a much-needed haircut in the Olympic Village, and Ledecky said she got to spectate after her races.

Asked whether she'll swim in the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles, Ledecky said, “I’ll take it one year at a time.”

Both cheered for Team USA as they made it to their final spot.

After each country's flag bearers arrived in the stadium, the rest of the athletes are coming in together with their delegations but in no particular order.

The French flag was raised and the national anthem was played as the closing ceremony continued.

French swimmer Léon Marchand has doused the flame of the Paris Games and now hands the flame off. The next holder of the Summer Games is Los Angeles in 2028.

Marchand won four of France's individual gold medals in swimming and was on the bronze-winning 4x100 medley relay team.

Zaho de Sagazan, accompanied by a choir, begins the closing ceremony with Paris' unofficial anthem, "Sous le ciel de Paris." The title translates to "Under Paris Skies."

During the opening ceremony, a masked figure ran through Paris' iconic monuments and locations carrying the torch.

At certain points, the figure appeared to be a nod to Gaston LeRoux's "The Phantom of the Opera," and at others, some suggested, it could be a nod to the video game Assassin's Creed.

Regardless, the identity of the figure, who appeared to be wearing a mask similar to that worn in fencing, was never uncovered.

There is some hope that the figure will return and share their identity with the viewers.

It's time to bid the 2024 Paris Olympics "au revoir" with the closing ceremony.

You can follow along with the performances and other festivities on Peaco*ck at 3 p.m. ET/12 p.m. PST.

Heading into Paris Olympics, the U.S. women's gymnastics team wasn't afraid to say it — it wanted that gold medal. Simone Biles called Paris a “redemption tour” for the Tokyo returners, who took silver in 2021.

“I feel like we all have more to give and our Tokyo performances weren’t the best,” Biles said at the Olympic trials in Minneapolis. “We weren’t under the best circ*mstances, either, but I feel like we have a lot of weight on our shoulders to go out there and prove that we’re better athletes.”

They fulfilled their destiny in Paris, winning gold as a team, plus some additional hardware. Biles, Suni Lee and Jade Carey all won at least one individual medal. Jordan Chiles' individual bronze is under contest.

“Coming into this Olympics, all of us felt like we had something to, like, redeem or prove,” Lee said. She fulfilled the bulk of her Paris wish list, save for a balance beam gold medal.

Hezly Rivera, 16, did not qualify for any event finals, but she was the only newcomer to the team and has plenty of time for her own redemption tour in Los Angeles in four years.

After her last competition in Paris, Biles said “there is nothing left” on the road to redemption.

“We did our job. ... It’s hard, but we did it," she said.

The athletes of the Paris Games have made us cheer, laugh, cry and celebrate with them. Jimmy Roberts looks back at the most unforgettable and joyful moments of the 2024 Games.

With the Olympics almost over, it’s on to another competition for some of the athletes.

A number of cyclists get only a few days to recover before the Tour de France Femme starts tomorrow.

Among the riders will be American star Kristen Faulkner, whose attack with less than 3 kilometers to go in the Aug. 4 road race led to a stunning gold medal. Chloe Dygert, who took bronze in the July 27 time trial, will be there, as well. As will Australia's Grace Brown, who won the time trial, and Great Britain's Anna Henderson, who got the silver.

Faulkner and Dygert were also part of the U.S. team that won gold in track team pursuit on Wednesday, giving them less than a week to recover.

It’s an even tighter turnaround for Poland’s Daria Pikulik, who clinched silver in the women’s track omnium race today and is expected to start tomorrow. Another Polish rider, Katarzyna Niewiadoma, who finished eighth in the road race, is also on the start list.

Move over LeBron James and Coco Gauff — it’s time for two new flag bearers: Katie Ledecky and Nick Mead.

Ledecky, who broke records as the most decorated female Olympian of all time, will carry the U.S. flag with rowing gold medalist Mead in the closing ceremony today.

When teammate Bobby Finke presented Ledecky with the news, she couldn’t help but tear up a bit.

The two were voted into the roles by their fellow Team USA athletes.

“Congratulations to our closing ceremony flag bearers, Katie Ledecky and Nick Mead, who exemplify the spirit of sport and the pride of Team USA,” Sarah Hirshland of the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee said Thursday when the decision was announced.

“Katie and Nick have significantly contributed to the joyous and celebratory atmosphere. We are thrilled and proud to follow them into Sunday’s closing festivities,” Hirshland added.

Imane Khelif, who became a hero in her native country of Algeria after winning a gold medal in women's boxing, will bear the country's flag during the closing ceremony.

Khelif has faced scrutiny and misconceptions about her gender in the lead-up to this moment. But for those in Algeria who watched Khelif battle her way to top brass, it is a moment of pride for the nation, The Associated Press reported.

Gymnast Simone Biles, swimmer Torri Huske and sprinter Gabby Thomas snagged three gold medals apiece during the 2024 Paris Games.

Biles and Huske also won silver medals. Biles was awarded one, and Huske got two.

Biles, who has been in three Olympic Games, took her 11th medal in Paris, making her the most decorated American gymnast.

Swimmers Kate Douglass and Gretchen Walsh each won two golds and two silvers. Fellow swimmer Regan Smith won two golds and three silvers.

Meanwhile, their teammate Katie Ledecky won two golds, a silver and a bronze. Ledecky, who has been in four Olympic Games, won her 14th medal in Paris and is now the most decorated female Olympian.

While it's been a tough weekend for American gymnast Jordan Chiles, the internet is expressing its outrage and support for her following news that the International Olympic Committee is asking for her to return her bronze medal.

The news was confirmed a day after an arbitration court decided Chiles was too late in asking for an appeal for a review on her floor exercise final last week, which found the judges initially underscored her routine. Her score was reverted to the lower number, despite the merits of the inquiry, because she was four seconds past the deadline.

Fans are angry that Chiles is being punished for repeated failures by judges with the International Gymnastics Federation (FIG) during competition. Judges also docked a Romanian gymnast's score for being out of bounds, but video later determined that she remained inside the floor perimeter.

"Wild how no one involved in the IOC, FIG, or COA wants the judges to take responsibility for their mistakes," X user Cora Harrington wrote. "And because THEY messed up, Jordan has to suffer and be punished so they can save face. I hope those judges never judge another gymnastics competition as long as they live."

From nail-biting finishes down to a fraction of a second to Ledecky-style blowouts, check out these gold medal finishes from the pool at the 2024 Paris Olympics.

How are there enough medals for everyone when ties happen, you might wonder.

Well, the Olympic organizing committee makes arrangement in advance of the games with the company that makes the medal. In this case it was LVMH jeweler Chaumet, who encrusted each medal with a piece of the Eiffel Tower.

But what happens if they are not awarded?

According to an IOC spokesperson who spoke to the Wall Street Journal in 2014, they are stored in the Olympic Museum in Lausanne, Switzerland.

The extras are made in the same batch as the originals but don't come with an inscription for the sport, like other medals do. When there are ties, the medals must be modified according to the design for that discipline, the spokesperson told the Journal.

Five teams secured their first Olympic medals ever during the 2024 Paris games: Albania, Cape Verde, Dominica, Saint Lucia and the Refugee Olympic Team.

Track star Julien Alfred won Saint Lucia's first gold medal after defeating USA's Sha'Carri Richardson in the women's 100-meter. Alfred secured a second medal for St. Lucia, a silver, in the women's 200.

Elsewhere in the Stade de France, which hosted track and field events, Thea LaFond-Gadson won a gold medal for Dominica in the women's triple jump.

Albania won its first medal after Chermen Valiev snagged the bronze in men's 74kg freestyle wrestling. Soon after, Islam Dudaev won the country's second bronze medal in men's 65kg freestyle wrestling.

Cape Verde's David de Pino won the country's first medal, a bronze, in men's 51kg boxing.

The Refugee Olympic Team received its first medal after Cameroon-born Cindy Ngamba won the bronze in women's middleweight boxing. The Refugee Olympic team, founded in 2015 ahead of the 2016 Rio games, was intended to help refugee athletes train for the Olympics and help build their careers.

In a message to Great Britain's Olympic competitors, King Charles III expressed his admiration for their performances.

"My wife joins me in sending our warmest congratulations to the competitors and their support teams from Team GB and across the whole Commonwealth," the King wrote, "for their many outstanding successes at the Olympic Games in Paris."

He continued, "Your achievements, across so many disciplines, were forged from that invaluable combination of raw talent, true grit and hard toil over many years, burnished these past weeks by sportsmanship and team spirit in the finest tradition of the Games."

Great Britain takes home 65 medals —14 gold, 22 silver and 29 bronze.

Addressing those who did not win medals, he added, "To those who missed out on the greatest prizes, you have most certainly not fallen short in the pride that you, too, have generated for your nations."

The King concluded by thanking France for hosting the Games and declaring, "You have all been an inspiration."

The swimming GOAT leaves her fourth Olympic Games as the most decorated U.S. female Olympian of all time.

In Paris, Katie Ledecky clinched gold medals in both the 1,500-meter and 800-meter freestyle events, and won bronze in the 400-meter freestyle. She also took home silver as a part of USA's 4x200-meter freestyle relay team. She now has a career total of 14 Olympic medals.

Ledecky holds the 17 fastest times in the 800 freestyle and set an Olympic record in the 1,500.

She is tied with Soviet gymnast Larisa Latynina for the most gold medals by a woman in Olympic history, with nine golds each.

As the Olympic Games came to a close the United States found itself atop the total medal leaderboard for the eighth straight Olympics, but tied with China for 40 gold medals.

The last time the U.S. did not win the gold medal count was when China won at the 2008 Beijing Games.

Take a look at every goal the U.S. women’s national team scored in the women’s soccer tournament at the 2024 Paris Olympics.

Reporting from Paris

About 45 minutes after the game’s end, fans at Bercy Arena gave a rousing cheer to their silver medalists as they took the podium.

Gabby Williams, who hit the long 2-pointer at the buzzer, got the loudest cheer before fans broke out into an impromptu “La Marseillaise” one last time.

After weeks of intense and exciting competition, international athletes are about to say “au revoir” to the 2024 Paris Games.

Unlike theambitious opening ceremony, the closing ceremony will take a more traditional route. Rather than the open-air venue of the Seine River, the closing ceremony will be held in the 80,000-seat Stade de France.

The stadium has hosted a number of events over the course of the Games, includingworld-record-breaking track racesand ahistoric first for the American women’s rugby team. Now, the venue will be filled with artists, dancers, acrobats and surprise performers to celebrate the end of this year’s Olympics and look ahead to the Los Angeles Games in 2028.

Read the full story here.

Team USA's A'ja Wilson credited her teammates and God for her second gold medal in women's basketball.

"The dynasty we have built here at USA [Basketball] has been incredible," Wilson said in a postgame interview. "I'm so proud and blessed to be a part of it. God was working today. God was working today."

While a higher power may have been offering an assist, Wilson's inspired performance on the court deserves its own credit. She scored 21 points, had 13 boards and 4 blocks against France.

Her second-half performance in particular helped rally her team to victory as the French women fought tooth-and-nail to win at home. Wilson said the U.S. team "did what we had to do" in those final two quarters once France tied the game.

"We understood what we had in the locker room, leaning on each other, constantly talking to one another, and believing in one another," Wilson said. "We believed in each other, and that’s the greatest thing about it."

In a dramatic final game, the U.S. women's basketball team will take home gold after beating France, 67-66.

It was a tense final after France dug deep to come back from behind in the first quarter and fight with everything it had as it tried to secure a medal on its home court. But the American women turned up the heat, with A'ja Wilson playing an inspiring last two quarters.

France called a timeout in the final 17 seconds after the U.S. took a narrow lead of 63-59, after Wilson made one of two free throws.

In the end, it came down to free throws after both French and U.S. fouls put women on each side on the line. Kahleah Copper put the U.S. women ahead in the final seconds of the game, a lead that France could not come back from.

The U.S. leads by 4 with only 15 seconds left in the game.

American Jackie Young is out of the game after fouling out, giving France yet another free throw opportunity.

Wilson's 3-pointer gave the U.S. just a 1-point lead after France made both its baskets. Just seconds later France handed the Americans a great opportunity by giving Kelsey Plum two free throws.

The U.S. now leads 60-57 with two minutes left in regulation.

A'Ja Wilson hit a 3-pointer to give the U.S. a slight lead of 58-55 as France continues to miss their own 3-point shots.

To add to the nail-biting nature of the game, this quarter has been full of free throws.

Each team has had at least two different free throw opportunities, often the only chance to tie to the game from a minor 2-point deficit. No one has missed so far.

The French women refuse to back down on their home court, playing a physical fourth quarter that has prompted multiple fouls.

Both the U.S. and France made 2-point free throw opportunities after fouls on each side, the game is now tied 47-47.

With 14 points and 12 rebounds early in the 3rd quarter, A'ja Wilson is nearly single-handedly keeping Team USA afloat as it attempts to avoid a devastating loss in this gold medal match.

Paris police have confirmed to NBC News that a man was spotted today at 2:45 p.m. local time scaling the Eiffel Tower. He was immediately arrested by local police officers on duty.

The area around the tower had been evacuated when the man was spotted, but police would not confirm if the tower was still under evacuation.

Dieu merci! The U.S. women's team managed to rally after a bad start to the third as France took the lead and at one point had Team USA trailing by 10 points.

But the U.S. woke up halfway through the quarter to push back against the French and make play after play, to the displeasure of the home crowd.

A'ja Wilson has been the most versatile player for the American women, turning up her defense in these last 10 minutes while at the same time being one of the team's leading scorers so far.

Wilson made two free throws in the last five seconds, giving the U.S. a lead of 45-43 as the gold medal game enters the last quarter of regulation time.

Reporting from Paris

There’s something happening here, but what it is ain’t exactly clear: Could the invincible U.S. women’s basketball team be in some trouble?

Bercy Arena is rocking as the underdog, the host French, are tied with the mighty Americans, 25-25, at intermission.

The French have forced 13 U.S. turnovers as both teams have struggled to find their offensive rhythm.

Reporting from Paris

America's swarming defense has the defending champs out to an early 15-9 lead over host France.

The French were just 4-for-22 from the floor in the opening period.

Team USA basketball vs. France, with the last gold medal of the Olympic Games on the line, is underway as the Americans have taken an early 6-5 lead in the first quarter.

The U.S. Olympic and Paralympic decision plans to appeal the decision by the Court of Arbitration for Sport that asserted gymnast Jordan Chiles placed fourth in the floor final because her coach missed the scoring appeal deadline by four seconds.

"The initial error occurred in the scoring by FIG, and the second error was during the CAS appeal process, where the USOPC was not given adequate time or notice to effectively challenge the decision," the committee said in a statement today. "As a result, we were not properly represented or afforded the opportunity to present our case comprehensively."

Chiles was initially underscored by the judges but after a review placed third in the women's floor exercise event. She was awarded the bronze, but the results were appealed by the Romanian authorities, saying Chiles missed the one-minute window to ask for her score to be re-evaluated.

The International Olympic Committee ordered Chiles to give back her medal following the arbitration opinion that reverted her score. It said it would reallocate the medal to the new third-place finalist, 18-year-old RomanianAna Bărbosu.

With Jennifer Valente's gold medal in the women's omnium taking Team USA's tally to 39 gold medals, China — thanks to dominant performances in diving, weightlifting and table tennis — sits one ahead on 40.

China's Olympics are done, and it cannot win any more medals. But Team USA has one more medal hope — women's basketball. The gold medal match against France will see the final gold medal of the Olympics handed out, and winning it would mean Team USA ties with China for the most gold medals at these Games.

Team USA has taken the most gold medals in the last three Olympics — China last topped the gold medal table in 2008, its home Olympics staged in Beijing.

Jennifer Valente has taken gold for Team USA in the women's cycling omnium, defending the Olympic title she won in Tokyo.

The San Diego native was dominant throughout the day of the four-discipline event, coming into the final event — the points race — with a 10-point lead.

But with her closest rival, Australia's Georgia Baker, failing to score in the points race, Valente was able to secure a comfortable victory, taking gold by a 15-point margin.

Italy is the women's volleyball Olympic champion after a dominant victory over Team USA in the gold medal match.

The Italian side has been pretty much flawless throughout the women's volleyball competition, losing only one set during the Games on its way to gold, and Team USA was the latest to have no answer to the Italians, who claimed another straight-set win.

It ended 25-18, 25-20, 25-17 in the Italians' favor as they won their first ever women's volleyball gold medal.

The result now effectively ends Team USA's hopes of topping China's gold medal tally of 40. The U.S. has 38 medals, and with only two more gold medal opportunities for Team USA, the best it can do is tie.

Kennedy Blades has taken silver in the women's freestyle 76-kg event in her Olympic debut.

Facing world champion Yuka Kagami of Japan in the gold medal match, 20-year-old Blades was in it until the end but didn't quite have enough offensively to trouble Kagami.

Blades mounted a huge defensive effort at the end of the first of two periods to ensure the scores were level going into the final three minutes, but the pressure eventually took its toll, with Kagami managing to shove Blades out of the oval to lead 3-1.

From there, Kagami was able to masterfully neutralize all of Blades' efforts to take gold.

As expected, China's Li Wenwen has taken gold in the women's 81-kg+ weightlifting event.

That ticks China's gold medal tally to 40, and with the U.S. women's volleyball team behind in its gold medal match, that leaves the Team USA's hopes of topping the gold medal count hanging by a thread.

Team USA's Jennifer Valente is leading the women's cycling omnium — she is about to race at the Velodrome in the last of the omnium's four events. Team USA shouldn't have any issue against France in the gold medal game in women's basketball later, so Team USA's hopes of topping the gold medal tally may well lie with Kenny Blades, who has just taken to the mat in her gold medal bout against Japan's Yuka Kagami in the women's wrestling 76-kg freestyle event.

Over at South Paris Arena, things are not going well for Team USA, which is facing Italy for gold in the women's volleyball competition.

Team USA is the defending champion but will have to dig itself out of a big hole if it is to go back to back. Italy, ranked No. 1 in the world heading into these Games, has taken the first two sets 25-18, 25-20, and is now just a set away from victory.

Italy is getting the better of Team USA at the net. Italian blockers have been everywhere so far, blocking the U.S. six times, while Team USA has yet to block a single shot. Paola Ogechi, the star of this Italian team throughout these Games, has been dominant for Italy so far, with 16 points and 3 blocks.

Australia's women's basketball team came out on top in a tense and thrilling contest against Belgium to take the bronze medal.

With Belgium 61-60 ahead after the third quarter, Australia took it down the stretch. Led by WNBA star Ezi Magbegor — who landed a game-high 30 points and 13 rebounds for a double-double — the Opals, as they're known in Australia, were able to pull away, leading by as much as 7, as they won a thriller, eventually running out the winners by 85-81 at Bercy Arena.

Team USA faces host nation France in the gold medal game at 9:30 a.m. ET.

Team USA' Jennifer Valente is on track to defend her Olympic title in the women's omnium heading into the last of the four events in the competition.

The omnium sees riders compete over four race disciplines to crown the best all-around rider.

Valente won the first event of the day, a 10-kilometer race known as the "scratch race," before placing second in the "tempo race," in which riders were awarded a point each time they led a lap of the 30-lap race.

The Team USA rider has just taken victory in the sprint race, which saw the last rider to cross the line every two laps eliminated. She now has a 10-point lead over Australia's Georgia Baker heading into the final event — the points race.

The points race is the one with the most riding on it. A grueling 80-lap race, every 10 laps racers will be awarded points for their position across the line — five for coming first, four for second and so on. If a rider laps the field, they will get 20 points, so points races tend to be fast and furious, with the standings able to change dramatically.

The IOC says it has asked the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee (USOPC) to arrange a "reallocation" ceremony after a decision to strip Team USA’s Jordan Chiles of her bronze medal from Monday’s controversial floor final.

This ended hopes that Chiles would be able to keep the medal in spite of the controversial scoring of her routine.

Chiles was the last athlete to compete in the eight-gymnast floor final, with her routine initially awarded a score of 13.666, enough for fifth place. Athletes have the right to request a review of the scores handed down by the judges, which Chiles and her coaches requested on the basis that her difficulty score did not credit one of the skills in her routine.

Reporting from Paris

Evan Medell will be going for gold in Paris, with hopefully more than eight totally silent spectators at his events.

The bronze-winnning Paralympic taekwondo competitor said he still can’t shake memories of the odd competition in Tokyo when he was leaving it all on the field with virtually no one there to cheer him on.

“It was very weird too,” Medell told NBC’s podcast “The Podium.” “It felt like you were fighting for, like, everything you ever wanted — and there was like eight people (there) who were silent. It was weird.”

It's bronze for Team USA! It has won its first Olympic medal in men's water polo since winning silver in 2008, beating Hungary in a shootout after the bronze medal matchup ended in an 8-8 tie in regulation.

Hungary, a powerhouse in men's water polo that was chasing its 17th Olympic medal in this event, missed all three of its shots in the shootout. With Team USA scoring all three of its shots, it has locked up the bronze medal and Team USA's first medal of this final day.

The bronze medal in men's water polo will be decided in the most dramatic way possible — a shootout — after the bronze medal match between Team USA and Hungary ended in a tie.

Team USA had fallen behind in the final quarter, but a power-play goal from Hannes Daube leveled the scores and sent the game to a shootout.

It's been a tight contest, but Team USA is a quarter away from taking bronze in men's water polo. It leads Hungary, 6-5, with eight minutes left to play.

The U.S. came under a lot of pressure from Hungary in the final few minutes of the third quarter, but held onto the lead thanks to goalkeeper Adrian Weinberg coming up clutch to prevent Hungary from drawing level.

The International Olympic Committee has said U.S. gymnast Jordan Chiles will have to return her bronze medal from Monday's floor final after the Court of Arbitration for Sport ruled that an appeal of her score, which saw her bumped up from fifth to third, was invalid.

The ruling means Chiles has dropped to fifth place in the standings, with Romania's Ana Barbosu now the bronze medalist. The IOC has now begun the process of reallocating the bronze medal to the Romanian gymnast.

“The IOC will reallocate the bronze medal to Ana Barbosu (Romania)," the IOC said in a statement. "We are in touch with the NOC of Romania to discuss the reallocation ceremony and with USOPC regarding the return of the bronze medal.”

Read the full article here

USA’s Kennedy Blades won a tough 76-kg semifinal against Kyrgyzstan’s Aiperi Medet Kyzy to advance to today's final, where she will face Japan's Yuka Kagami.

Team USA is ahead 3 to 2 after scoring right at the death of the first quarter of its bronze medal match against Hungary.

Ben Hallock was able to slam the ball into the net with one second left on the clock in the first quarter to hand the U.S. the early initiative.

Team USA has locked up the most total medals, entering today with 122 medals across these Olympics, but the race to have the most gold medals is coming down to the last events of the Games.

It is China that currently has the most gold medals — it has 39 to Team USA's 38. The U.S. needed a final-day surge to overtake China in Tokyo, so can it be done again today?

China's strongest, and probably only realistic, gold medal hope today is in women's 81-kg+ weightlifting. Li Wenwen has dominated the top women's weightlifting category for years and won the IWF World Cup, the last major competition before these Games, by a long way. She will be heavily favored to bring in China's 40th gold of these Games today.

That means Team USA will likely need to bring in three golds to overtake China. Today sees Team USA's women's volleyball and basketball teams in gold medal matches, while wrestler Kenny Blades is one contest away from gold. Cyclist Jennifer Valente is also looking to defend her Olympic title in the women's omnium today.

The last time Team USA didn't top the gold medal tally was in Beijing back in 2008, a home Olympics for China. There, China won 48 gold medals, 12 more than the U.S.

Team USA has not won a medal in men's water polo since 2008, but it will have the opportunity to take bronze this morning as it takes on Hungary in the men's bronze medal game at La Defense Arena.

Hungary has won more Olympic medals in men's water polo than any other nation and will be the favorite against Team USA this morning. Hungary took bronze in Tokyo while the U.S. has not medaled since 2008.

Team USA was beaten in the semifinal, 10-6, on Friday by another water polo high-flyer, Serbia, which won gold in Rio and Tokyo and will look to threepeat when it takes on Croatia in the gold medal match later today.

The Netherlands' Sifan Hassan won the women's Olympic marathon after a thrilling shoulder-to-shoulder sprint finish over Tigst Assefa.

Hassan, who wins her third medal of these Games after winning bronze in the 5,000-meter and 10,000-meter on the track, claimed the Olympic record, finishing in a time of 2:22:55. Assefa came home three seconds behind while Helen Obiri took bronze.

A group of four, Hassan, Assefa, Obiri and Sharon Lokedi, made their move with 2 kilometers to go, upping the pace as they chased gold. Lokedi was the first to drop out of the pack, before Obiri dropped away in the final kilometer. Hassan and Assefa almost touched as they sprinted toward the finish, but Hassan had the pace to cross the line first at Les Invalides.

Suppose the incredibly hilly marathon course weren't difficult enough already. In that case, it is a very hot morning in Paris, currently 72 degrees Fahrenheit, with the water stations around the course providing blessed relief — some runners taking on gelled ice packs to cool off.

With 7 kilometers to go, the leading pack has just completed the biggest hill on the course as the race returns toward central Paris after looping around Versailles. A group of seven has started to break away, with Kenya's Sharon Lokedi and Hellen Obiri and Ethiopia's Tigst Assefa and Amane Beriso Shankule among the leaders.

The defending champion from Tokyo, Peres Jepchirchir, is 23 seconds behind the leaders and looks unlikely to defend her title.

Communities across America are celebrating Team USA athletes competing in Paris. For weeks, fans, friends and family back home have been cheering on their hometown heroes, and now they are welcoming them back with open arms.

With equestrian competition in the books, relive the scenes from all of the action at the Chateau de Versailles and the 2024 Paris Olympics.

Stream every moment and every medal of the 2024 Paris Olympics on Peaco*ck.

Watch the Olympic closing ceremony live on NBC and Peaco*ck at 3 p.m. ET and in prime time starting at 6 p.m. ET.