STORY: :: As the Paris Games draw to a close, elated Olympic fans look ahead to LA 2028 :: August 12, 2024 :: Saint-Denis, France :: Aissata Mariko, Los Angeles resident :: "It was wonderful. It was wonderful. The show at the beginning, everything was just perfect.
" :: Rhodia Diallo, Paris resident :: "Breathtaking, really. I'm so proud of France right now." :: "It was a spectacle.
Seriously." :: "We loved it. We're so happy.
We almost cried." :: "Oh my god, it's not finished. She's from here, I'm from LA.
So she's coming to see me in 2028. It's like just, you know, the next chapter." :: "The flame.
So I'm Parisian, she's from LA, so I give her the flame. So in four years in LA. Let's go.
" :: Herve Girodon, Lyon resident :: “It was a very nice ceremony. I found the moment of the rings very moving, very nice. It gives a good sense of French art, I think, of French culture.
And then the passing of the relay was nice too. I think it will be a beautiful Games in 2028 in Los Angeles.” Cruise rappelled from the roof of France's national stadium and received the Olympic flag, bringing a heavy dose of Hollywood to the closing ceremony of the Paris Games as the French capital handed over to the next host Los Angeles.
Paris brought down the curtain on an Olympic Games that brought scintillating sport to the heart of the capital, breathing new life into an Olympic brand hurt by the difficulties of Rio de Janeiro's 2016 Games and the soulless spirit of Tokyo's COVID-hit event..
