The LA 2024 Olympics logo bursts from the iconic LA Memorial Coliseum.
by Laura Berthold Monteros
In choosing the three co-Grand Marshals for the 128th Tournament of Roses Parade, Pres. Brad Ratliff had a brilliant idea, but it came rather later in the game that usual. In conjunction—or perhaps collusion—with the City of Los Angeles’ float entry, “Follow the Sun,” he chose three Olympians who are also coincidently part of the LA 2024 Olympic bid effort. The float was announced earlier in the year, but the Grand Marshals weren’t announced until November, 2016. They only had a few weeks’ notice before being publicly presented.
Be sure to check out the photo gallery at the end for more about the float and the Grand Marshals.
The Olympians, Janet Evans, Greg Louganis, and Allyson Felix, followed the 119th consecutive Los Angeles float in the Rose Parade on Jan. 2, 2017. The float was presented by Los Angeles Tourism & Convention Board and LA 2024, and featured the beloved symbol of the Los Angeles Olympics, whether 1932, 1984, or 2024—the iconic peristyle and flaming torch of the Memorial Coliseum. The city is the US Candidate City for the 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games, and Evans serves as the Vice Chairperson and Chair of the LA 2024 Bid Committee’s Athletes’ Commission and Director of Athlete Relations. Ehe is responsible for promoting the candidacy of the Bid Committee and Los Angeles to host the Games and helping to integrate the athletes’ perspective and personalities into the entire bid process.
It may have been a blatant attempt at swaying the opinion of the 80 million people around the world who watch the parade, but the fans on the street loved it, and cheered both the float and the Olympians. When asked, Louganis told The Rose Examiner, “Yes, we were all colluding!” Ratliff affirmed, “I don’t see how it wouldn’t help. The timing is good for them and for us.”
The float was pure Los Angeles, from the Coliseum to the waves breaking over the beach volleyball court to the sun setting over the Pacific Ocean. Perched on the peristyle was the 2024 Olympics logo: an angel for the City of Angels, a sunburst for sunny Southern California, and a rainbow for the variety of cultures and experiences in the area—what could say LA more fittingly?
More than 20,000 roses, mums, carnations, and iris were used on the float and a special permit was necessary for the flaming torch. It was designed by Art Aguirre and built by Fiesta Parade Floats. The automobiles, decorated by FTD floral designers J. Keith White, AIFD CFD and Pete Samek, each bore the five Olympic rings in gold.
Media information from LA notes that “Follow the Sun” embodies the essence of L.A.’s bid for the Olympic and Paralympic Games that will harness “the city’s unparalleled culture of creativity and innovation, its youthful energy and near-perfect weather.” It presents the parade theme, “Echoes of Success,” in reimagining for 2024 the successful and profitable games of 1932 and 1984
All photos copyright 2017. Contact Administrator for permission.
A sight that makes Angelenos proud: The Olympic torch flaming from the top of the Memorial Coliseum on the 2017 Los Angeles Rose Parade float “Follow the Sun.” Coliseum walls used lettuce seeds for the cement tone and the stylized palm trees used white coconut chips. The vibrant colors of the LA 2024 Angel are echoed in the rose gardens, with more than 10,000 roses in various shades from light yellow to hot pink running the length of the float.
Riding on the front and side of the LA float are Nadia Comaneci and Bart Conner (gymnastics), Rudy Garcia-Tolson (Paralympic swimmer, runner and triathlete), Candace Cable (Paralympic Track and Field), Anita DeFrantz (rowing), and Ezra French (LA84 Ambassador). More than 1,000 stems of Bird of Paradise, LA’s official flower, were displayed on the corners of the float.
A true SoCal sport: beach volleyball, played here on a court of 300 pounds of crushed walnut shells. Players: Dawn Harper Nelson (track and field) and April Ross, Sinjin Smith, Holly McPeak (beach volleyball). Waves were created with white Alito roses, coconut chips, gypsophila and dendrobium orchids, sinuata statice, hydrangea blossoms, and more than 8,000 light and dark blue iris.
Outwalkers on both sides of the Los Angeles float were LA84 Ambassadors. The giant 14-foot diameter sun slowly rose and set behind the ocean. It was created with thousands of yellow and golden strawflower petals with accents of dehydrated red bell pepper and orange carrots.
In vintage automobiles, the three legendary Olympians chosen to be the Grand Marshals for the 128th Tournament of Roses Parade appeared behind the float dedicated to the Los Angeles 2084 Olympic and Paralympic bid.
Heading around the corner at Orange Grove and Colorado are Olympians and Rose Parade Grand Marshals Greg Louganis, Janet Evans, and Allyson Felix. Each car bore the Olympic rings in gold.
2017 Grand Marshal Greg Louganis rides with his husband Johnny Chaillot in a gorgeous 1937 Bentley 4 ¼ liter. The model is often called the Derby Bentley, because it was built in the Rolls Royce plant in Derby, England. It’s owned by Barry G. Hon.
Last summer, Greg Louganis marked the 40th Anniversary of his first Olympic medal, a silver in platform diving at the 1976 Montreal Olympics. In 1984 and 1988, he became the first male diver to win double gold in springboard and platform. He has won a total of five Olympic medals, five World Championship titles and 47 national titles, more than any person in U.S. history. Perhaps the greatest diver in history, his records remain unbroken.
Grand Marshal Allyson Felix ran so fast at her first high school practice, that her coach thought he had mismeasured the distance. In 2003, she beat the world record with a 22.11 second 200 meter race in the Banamex Grand Prix. She is now the most decorated female in Olympic track and field history, with a total of six medals: three gold in 2012 and two gold and a silver in 2016.
With a bouquet tucked into the wheel well, a 1911 Pope-Hartford, Model W, Pony Tonneau owned by Ted Bowers took Allyson Felix down the 2017 Rose Parade route. The car, which was restored in 1982, has been driven more than 100,000 miles since Bowers purchased it in 1946.
A seven passenger 1915 Pierce Arrow Phaeton conveyed Grand Marshal Janet Evans’ family, husband Bill Willson and children Jake and Sydney, in the Rose Parade. The auto is owned by Joe and Janice Conzonire. Joe’s brother Corky was president of the Tournament of Roses for the 2009 celebration.
Janet Evans is a five-time Olympic medalist who has broken seven world records and is considered to be the greatest female distance swimmer in history. Among other honors, she was inducted into the US Olympic Hall of Fame in 2004 and the International Swimming Hall of Fame in 2001.She is Vice Chairperson and Chair of the LA 2024 Bid Committee’s Athletes' Commission and Director of Athlete Relations
