Paris 2024 Summer Olympics: Snoop Dogg carries Olympic torch ahead of Opening Ceremony
Ahead of the opening ceremony for the 2024 Paris Summer Olympics, American rapper Snoop Dogg carried the torch as part of the torch relay on Friday. The celebrity had a massive crowd around him as he walked the torch along the streets of Paris before the opening ceremony, which begins at 1:30 p.m. ET.
Commentating on the festivities, BBC reporter Maryam Moshiri said live, on-air: “Luckily, whilst he was carrying the torch he didn’t drop like it’s hot, drop it like it’s hot.”
Snoop Dogg, an LA native, was chosen to carry the torch ahead of the Olympics, which will take place in his hometown next in 2028.
Unlike in years past, the opening ceremony for this year’s Olympics in Paris will not take place in an arena. Instead, the procession will flow along the river Seine.
LeBron James, Coco Gauff to serve as flagbearers for Team USA
For the first time in his career, LA Lakers star LeBron James was chosen by his peers to be the male flag bearer for Team USA at the Summer Olympics in Paris during the opening ceremonies. James is readying for his fourth Olympic games with Team USA. He’ll be joined by star tennis player Coco Gauff, who will serve as the female flagbearer in Friday’s opening ceremony.
At 39, James is now the third basketball player to earn the right to bear the U.S.A. flag at the Olympics, and only the first male. South Carolina head coach Dawn Staley carried the flag at the Athens Games in 2004, years before Sue Bird carried it for the Tokyo Games in 2021.
James earned votes from his fellow athletes after his Team USA teammate, Steph Curry, nominated him for the honor.
“We understand how much of an honor it is to be in that position and I think LeBron’s entire career, on and off the court, speaks for itself as him being worthy of that honor,” Curry said.
“He has represented what it means to be excellent both on and off the court in his commitment to service and to uplifting the community in all ways that he knows how has been a lifelong passion. And the work speaks for itself.”
James enters the 2024 Olympics in Paris with two gold medals and one bronze medal for Team USA on his resume. He played on teams that won bronze in 2004 in Athens, gold in Beijing in 2008 and gold in London in 2012.