Olympic Flag Is on the Ground in LA

The Olympic flag arrived for real in Los Angeles on Monday afternoon, with no skydiving involved. Mayor Karen Bass carried the flag off an airliner after being presented with it by Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo in a historic transfer the night before, KNBC reports. Passengers on the flight included Team USA athletes, LA28 executives, the US Olympic & Paralympic Committee, and elected officials. The flag was to be taken next to City Hall—without the aid of skateboards or mountain bikes. Tom Cruise, who turned flag duty into a thriller at the closing ceremonies, was nowhere to be seen. The plane landed minutes after an earthquake shook the Los Angeles area.

"We have the flag now," Bass said at LAX. "It's on us." The mayor said she spent time with city officials and Olympics organizers while in Paris to prepare for hosting the Games in 2028, per KTLA. Los Angeles has a variety of stadiums and arenas—the Intuit Dome opens this week—and does not expect to build more for the Games. Gov. Gavin Newsom said Monday at the airport that he wants the Los Angeles Olympics to be "the best Games that have ever been hosted anywhere in the history of mankind." At a press conference before the closing ceremony, Bass said, "As we've seen here in Paris, the Olympics are an opportunity to make transformative change." (More Olympics stories.)