Thomas Bach

World athletics chief Sebastian Coe, multi-millionaire and Olympic newcomer Johan Eliasch and Zimbabwe's Sports Minister Kirsty Coventry are among seven candidates for next year's International Olympic Committee presidency election, the IOC said on Monday.

Officials in Ancient Olympia are protesting the decision to hold the next International Olympic Committee session in a neighboring region of the Peloponnese, rather than at the birthplace of the Olympic Games.

Around 70,000 spectators gathered at the Stade de France to witness the closing of the 33rd Summer Olympic Games in Paris. The ceremony began in the Tuileries Gardens, where the Olympic flame had been placed during the Games. France's swimming sensation, Leon Marchand, took the flame from the Gardens with a lantern and made his way to the Stade de France, marking the start of the event.

Setting out to prove that topping Paris isn't mission impossible, Los Angeles rolled out a skydiving Tom Cruise, Grammy winner Billie Eilish and other stars on Sunday as it took over Olympic hosting duties from the French capital, which closed out its 2024 Games just as they started - with joy and panache.

Hollywood star Tom Cruise abseiled from the roof of the Stade de France as Paris said farewell on Sunday to an Olympics hailed as one of the most successful in history.

Cruise descended on a wire in front of 71,500 spectators, grabbed the Olympic flag and jumped on a motorbike, to the delight of athletes and fans.

Paris handed over the Olympic flag to the Mayor of Los Angeles, Karen Bass, setting the stage for the next Games in 2028 during a closing ceremony.

French President Emmanuel Macron inaugurated the 33rd Olympic Games in Paris, with the Olympic flame being ignited at the end of an extensive relay by athlete Marie-José Perec and judoka Teddy Riner, who then lifted the flame into the sky with a balloon.

Thomas Bach, left, president of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), left, and his wife Claudia Bach, right, Greece's Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis and his wife Mareva Grabowski-Mitsotaki before a gala dinner hosted by the IOC and the French Presidency at the Louvre Museum, at the Paris Olympic games, Thursday, in Paris.

France has been provisionally selected to host the 2030 Winter Games, with the final decision contingent on the country meeting key financial guarantee deadlines set by the International Olympic Committee (IOC). The IOC made this decision during its session in Paris.

The torch for the highly anticipated Paris 2024 Olympic Games was ceremoniously ignited in ancient Olympia on Tuesday, signaling the final leg of the seven-year preparation journey for the Games set to commence on July 26, Reuters reported.