Mayor Karen Bass to receive Official Olympic Flag During Paris Closing Ceremony

First Woman Mayor of Paris To Present First Woman Mayor of Los Angeles with the Official Olympic Flag During Olympic Closing Ceremony 

 Mayor Bass traveled with First Lady Dr. Jill Biden as part of the U.S. Presidential Delegation to Paris for the Opening Ceremony of the 2024 Olympic Games as she continues crucial preparations for Los Angeles to host the 2028 Games

LOS ANGELES – Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass returned to Los Angeles from Paris, France on Monday after attending the Opening Ceremony as part of the official Presidential Delegation led by First Lady Dr. Jill Biden as she continues crucial preparations for the Los Angeles region to host the Olympic and Paralympic Games in 2028. Ensuring Angelenos benefit from the preparation and hosting of this major event, both now and for decades, is a top priority for the Mayor with a focus on helping local small businesses, creating local jobs and creating lasting environmental and transportation improvements throughout Los Angeles. Photos and video from throughout the trip are available here. 

“It was an honor to travel to Paris as part of the First Lady’s White House Delegation representing the United States on the world stage,” said Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass. “I want to congratulate Mayor Hidalgo and Paris 2024 on a successful Games so far and I thank them for opening their doors to us as we make crucial preparations for 2028. It is a top priority to ensure that these preparations benefit Angelenos for decades to come by helping local small businesses, creating local jobs and making lasting environmental and transportation improvements throughout Los Angeles.” 

As the Mayor of Los Angeles, Host City for the 2028 Olympic and Paralympic Games, Mayor Karen Bass has an official role alongside Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo in the Closing Ceremony of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, where she will receive the official Olympic flag to bring home to Los Angeles on August 11. Mayor Bass, the second African American and first woman Mayor of Los Angeles, will receive the flag from the first woman Mayor of Paris, and become the first ever Black woman Mayor to receive the official Olympic flag during a closing ceremony. 

Key takeaways from her Opening Ceremony trip to Paris include:

• Celebrate the Games Throughout the Entire City in a Way That Benefits All – Paris 2024 adopted the slogan “Games Wide Open” and with arts and cultural programs, watch parties, fan festivals, and team houses in all seventeen districts and neighboring venue cities, both residents and visitors to Paris have endless opportunities to explore the region - with most offered for free. Los Angeles has a once-in-a-generation opportunity to do the same, to showcase the diverse cultures, communities, arts, food, and natural beauty all throughout the city and our region. This also sets the stage for locals to benefit from these investments for generations to come. A top priority for the Mayor is to work to ensure every neighborhood is highlighted to benefit from the Games in 2028.

• Small and Local Businesses are a Priority – Paris 2024, the City of Paris, and their Olympic Games Delivery Authority known as SOLIDEO, all set a goal of awarding at least 25% of their contracts to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and met or exceeded that goal.  They also developed a needs map and other tools to ensure the community of small and local businesses knew what types of services would be needed to host the Games. The Mayor’s Office has hosted listening sessions with business organizations throughout the region to identify the unique barriers their small business members face, including access to capital, repayment terms, and prohibitive terms within Requests for Proposal.  From 9am to 3pm on October 10, 2024 at the L.A. Convention Center, the Mayor’s Office will host a Sports & Entertainment Supplier Diversity Forum, and interested participants can register here.

• Coordination and Communication is Key – The complexity of planning an event of this size, scope, and duration cannot be overstated. In Paris, this coordination was clearly visible - and one such hallmark were the ubiquitous pink signs marking the Olympic sites, transportation routes, and even on the trains, noting where stations along metro routes were closed.  Coordination and communication across stakeholder and jurisdictions and with our communities will ensure a seamless experience and build lasting connectivity for our region. Coordination is vital among local leaders too, which is why Council President Paul Krekorian, the Chair of the City Council Public Safety Committee Monica Rodriguez, LA Metro leaders, LAPD Chief Dominic Choi, LA Sheriffs, and the LA28 Safety & Security Team were present in Paris. That coordination is well underway in Los Angeles and will continue urgently through 2028. 

• Volunteers Play an Integral Role – Paris has volunteers all across the Paris region ready to assist Games attendees, helping point people in the right direction, helping with translation, and serving as ambassadors with a quick “Bonjour!” ready to answer any questions. Volunteerism brings people together and creates pride in our City and in service, builds skills and lifelong memories, and will be a core component of a successful 2028 Games in L.A.

• Efficient and Convenient Transportation Is Imperative –  In Paris, cars are restricted from entering areas around most venues, encouraging public transit ridership and active transportation both to the venues and throughout the City. The City of Los Angeles is working closely with L.A. Metro, LA28, Metrolink, Caltrans, and the Southern California Association of Governments (SCAG) to ensure that public transportation is a convenient, safe and viable option for residents and visitors in Los Angeles during the 2028 Games.  In addition to scaling up a system of dedicated buses, bus lanes, and mobility options, the City and our partners are working to improve accessibility and walkability along the approach to venues.

Locking Arms on the International Stage:

In order to host a successful Games in 2028, Mayor Bass is locking arms internationally and across all levels of government to deliver for the people of Los Angeles: 

• Official Presidential Delegation led by First Lady Dr. Jill Biden - In addition to First Lady Dr. Jill Biden and Ambassador Denise Campbell Bauer, the White House Delegation included U.S. Senator Chris Coons, U.S. Senator Alex Padilla, LA28 Chairperson Casey Wasserman, and Olympians Brian Boitano and Dawn Staley. Read more about the members of the Presidential Delegation here. 

• U.S. Ambassador to the French Republic and the Principality of Monaco Denise Campbell Bauer – The White House Delegation joined the U.S. Ambassador to the French Republic and the Principality of Monaco Denise Campbell Bauer at her residence to welcome Team USA family members to France. 

• Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo – Mayor Bass joined Mayor Anne Hidalgo and other Paris region leaders at the historic Opening Ceremony of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games. During Mayor Bass’ Delegation trip to Paris in March, Mayor Bass met with Mayor Hidalgo and her leadership team in Paris’s City Hall to hear about her agenda for the Paris 2024 Games, and how the City of Los Angeles can generate business development and learn from innovative housing, green transportation and infrastructure projects to prepare Los Angeles ahead of the 2028 Olympic and Paralympic Games. Mayor Hidalgo has been Mayor of Paris since 2014, the first woman to hold that office.

• Mayor Mathieu Hanotin of Saint-Denis – Mayor Bass joined Mayor Hanotin of Saint-Denis on one of the final legs of the Olympic Torch Relay before the official Opening Ceremony in Paris. Mayor Bass and Mayor Hanotin also visited the 12th century Basilica of Saint-Denis, a national historic monument and site for cultural programming and tourism during the Games. Mayor Bass met with Mayor Hanotin and his team during her visit in March, joined by members of the Los Angeles City Council and other civic leaders. On that visit, Mayor Hanotin led the delegation on a tour of the Athletes’ Village for the 2024 Games, a redevelopment project that will deliver several thousand units of affordable housing upon completion of the Games, demonstrating lasting positive social and economic impact. 

• Deputy Mayor Krista Adams of Brisbane, Australia – As Mayor of the next host city for the 2028 Games, Mayor Bass also met with Deputy Mayor Krista Adams of Brisbane, Australia, to discuss expanding collaboration as Host Cities ahead of both the 2028 and 2032 Olympic and Paralympic Games. 

• Local Los Angeles Officials – Other local officials from Los Angeles that were in Paris to prepare to host the Olympic and Paralympic Games in 2028 included Council President Paul Krekorian, Chair of the City Council Public Safety Committee Monica Rodriguez, LAPD Chief Dominic Choi, and LA Metro CEO Stephanie Wiggins. 

Supporting Team USA and Observing Various Venues in Paris:

• Mayor Bass spent time on the trip supporting Team USA alongside First Lady Dr. Jill Biden and members of the Presidential Delegation at sporting events while observing the different venues in Paris — their crowdflow, capacity, and other important characteristics that will factor into the planning of the 2028 Olympic and Paralympic Games. At the events, the Mayor was able to speak with Team USA athletes which included many from the Los Angeles region about their journey’s leading up to the Games. The Mayor also spoke at an event at the Ambassador's Residence with French regional leaders, members of the delegation and Los Angeles leaders as she continues to lock arms nationally to prepare for the 2028 Games. 

• The delegation visited the Team USA High Performance Training Center, where Mayor Bass met with Team USA rugby and track athletes and coaches and leadership of the United States Olympic & Paralympic Committee.

During the delegation trip, Mayor Bass continued her urgent efforts back home in Los Angeles to urgently bring people indoors, provide resources for low income Angelenos, build toward a greener future, support the city’s foundational industry and improve customer services for small business owners:

• Housing Angelenos: The Mayor’s Office conducted an Inside Safe operation in Boyle Heights that brought more than 15 unhoused Angelenos inside from an encampment at Hollenbeck Park, a historic green space that surrounding families rely on for park and recreation space. 

• Providing Resources For Low Income Angelenos: Mayor Bass announced that applications were now open for the second pilot phase of the Mobility Wallet Pilot Program for qualifying South Los Angeles residents who currently face barriers to opportunities because of lack of access to transportation. Mobility Wallets provide subsidies that can be used for transportation services including public transit, rideshare, micro-mobility, taxis, and purchases at bike shops.

• Building Toward A Greener Future: The Mayor’s Office worked to help secure $500 million in grant funding from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to reduce pollution related to goods movement. Los Angeles received the largest award out of more than 25 grant recipients.

• Supporting The City’s Foundational Industry: The Mayor’s Office announced the convening of Mayor Bass’ inaugural Entertainment Industry Council to draw upon senior industry leaders’ expertise as she leads new efforts to support L.A’s foundational industry as it stabilizes and recovers. 

Click here for a readout of day one of the delegation trip. Click here for a readout of day two of the delegation trip.

BACKGROUND

Ensuring Los Angeles is prepared to host a 2028 Olympic and Paralympic Games that benefits Angelenos now and for decades to come is a top priority for Mayor Bass.

In March of this year, Mayor Bass led a delegation of members of the City Council and other civic leaders to Paris, France to generate business development and learn from innovative housing, green transportation and infrastructure projects to prepare Los Angeles ahead of the 2028 Olympic and Paralympic Games and to create lasting impacts in L.A. for generations to come. The delegation met with French officials, dignitaries and business leaders to see how Paris was preparing for the 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games.

The delegation included Council President Paul Krekorian, Councilmember Traci Park, Councilmember Katy Yaroslavsky, LA Metro CEO Stephanie Wiggins, LA84 Foundation President and CEO Renata Simril, and Priscilla Cheng, Senior Vice President for Government Relations at LA28. All three Councilmembers sit on the Ad Hoc Committee for the 2028 Olympic and Paralympic Games. Councilmembers Park and Yaroslavsky serve as Chair and Vice-Chair, respectively and President Krekorian was a member of the Ad Hoc Committee when the host city contract was signed. Since the delegation trip in March, Mayor Bass has continued to prepare Los Angeles with a focus on economic investment and business procurement, building a greener Los Angeles by improving upon green transportation and infrastructure, and confronting the homelessness crisis with the urgency it requires.

Economic Investment and Business Procurement: Los Angeles is engaging with local small businesses to optimize the procurement opportunities anticipated to flow through the 2028 Olympic and Paralympic Games. The Mayor’s Office is hosting roundtables with business associations to receive their input on how best to engage their members and other stakeholders with procurement and contract opportunities ahead of the 2028 Games. The Mayor’s Office and city departments are also working closely with LA28’s Community Business Working Group, which will develop the plan and specific goals for small and local businesses as a key part of their procurement strategy.

A Greener Los Angeles with Green Infrastructure and Transportation: Los Angeles’ commitment to host more sustainable Games dates back to the bid, with a pledge to radical reuse by leveraging the city’s wealth of existing world-class venues. The 2028 Summer Games will become the first-ever Games to build no new permanent venues, and instead will rely exclusively on existing and temporary venues. Additionally, Los Angeles is focused on lowering the overall footprint of the Games by promoting the use of circular construction principles for temporary venue sites and significantly reducing waste at the games. Los Angeles aims to host a transit-first Games and will also promote the use of zero-emission vehicles. Ahead of welcoming the world to Los Angeles in 2028, the city will also enhance water conservation by promoting water efficient fixtures, plant water saving landscapes and enhance existing open and green spaces. The Mayor’s Office is working closely with LA28 in order to ensure alignment and accelerate the City’s sustainability goals.

Strengthening Transportation and Infrastructure: The Los Angeles region recently secured nearly $80 million to electrify Metro buses to reduce air pollution. This followed $900 million in federal funding awarded to strengthen critical infrastructure, expand the Metro Rail system and reconnect communities ahead of the 2028 Olympic and Paralympic Games through a spending package signed into law by President Biden and new grant funding from the Biden-Harris Administration. LA Metro will receive $709.9 million from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and the Fiscal Year 2024 transportation spending law, which will go toward sections two and three of the D Line (Purple) Subway Extension Project, among other projects. The Los Angeles region will also receive $160 million in new federal grant funding for street and transit infrastructure, traffic safety and to improve connections between neighborhoods. This includes $139 million that will directly improve transportation mobility access during the 2028 Olympic and Paralympic Games and create lasting enhancements for communities. More here.

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