Snoop Dogg, Jackie Chan, Muhammad Ali and other famous torchbearers
Training starts today. Here is where the relay stands and how you can nominate me.
Inspiring Stories501 torchbearers, five flames united in Cortina, and a Roman arena opening the Winter Paralympics
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On the last day of the Paris 2024 relay, the Olympic flame passed through Saint-Denis in the hands of Snoop Dogg. The clips went everywhere within the hour, which is why organizers book celebrities: one famous torchbearer turns a relay stage into a global broadcast.
The tradition is older than social media. Some of the best-known carries:
A relay needs attention to work. Organizers spend celebrity moments carefully: an opening handoff, a famous location, a final-day surprise. Paris 2024 saved Snoop Dogg for the last day, when the world was already watching. Expect LA28 to do the same across a 50-state map. Hollywood is the host city, so finding famous names will not be the hard part.
Of the roughly 10,000 to 12,000 torchbearers in a modern relay, the celebrities are a rounding error. Since the 1984 Los Angeles relay opened the flame to ordinary citizens, the overwhelming majority of carriers have been teachers, veterans, nurses, coaches and neighbors, nominated by the people who know them.
That is the tradition my campaign is built on. The 2028 relay will need one of the largest torchbearer corps in history to cover all 50 states, and most of those slots will go to regular people with a story someone told on their behalf.
Snoop will probably get a mile in 2028. So will a hundred names you know. Thousands of miles will go to everyone else, and the selection process opens in 2027. I am running for one of those miles as a founder, husband, father and runner from Santa Monica. If you'd back me, add your name on the nomination wall.