Tom Cruise added his signature thrill to the 2024 Paris Olympics closing ceremony on Sunday, August 11, in a spectacular fashion that only he could pull off. At 62 years old, the Hollywood icon took center stage to pass the Olympic flag to Los Angeles, the host city for the 2028 Summer Games. Cruise’s entrance was nothing short of cinematic: he descended from the top of the Stade de France via a cable wire, landing amidst a sea of athletes. After weaving through the crowd, he received the Olympic flag from Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass and gymnast Simone Biles. Not stopping there, Cruise hopped onto a motorcycle with the flag securely attached and zoomed out of the arena. Co-host Jimmy Fallon, watching in awe, quipped, “Come on now, Maverick,” referencing Cruise’s iconic Top Gun character.
The action then transitioned to a pre-recorded segment showing Cruise navigating the famous streets of Paris, including the Champs-Élysées, before boarding a cargo plane destined for Los Angeles. In a thrilling finale, he parachuted out of the plane, touched down in LA, and climbed atop the Hollywood sign, where he transformed the two “O”s into the Olympic rings. The flag was then handed off to skateboarder Jagger Eaton, who carried it to Venice Beach. There, a star-studded performance by California natives, including the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Billie Eilish, and Snoop Dogg, capped off the evening.
Cruise has been in Europe recently, filming Mission: Impossible 8. He was also seen at the opening ceremony of the Paris Olympics in July and attended various women’s gymnastics and swimming events. Throughout his illustrious career, Cruise has become known for performing his own stunts. At the 2022 Cannes Film Festival, he shared how his passion for stunts began at just four years old. “I had this doll, and you throw it up in the air, and a parachute comes down,” he recalled. “I played with this thing, and I’d throw it off a tree, and I was like, ‘I really want to do this.’” He even confessed to jumping off his roof as a child, using bed sheets as a makeshift parachute. Cruise has always had a love for fast cars, motorcycles, and extreme sports. During a 2014 appearance on The Graham Norton Show, he said, “I’ve trained for 30 years doing [stunts], and it allows us to put cameras where you are normally not able to.”
His daring appearance at the closing ceremony followed an equally memorable Olympics opening ceremony two weeks earlier. Céline Dion made her much-anticipated return to the stage after revealing her stiff-person syndrome diagnosis in December 2022. She concluded the opening event with a poignant performance of Édith Piaf’s “Hymne à l’amour” at the Eiffel Tower. “Most of all, I’m so happy to be celebrating these amazing athletes, with all their stories of sacrifice and determination, pain and perseverance,” Dion shared. “Whether or not you take home a medal, I hope that being here means that it has come true for you! You should all be so proud.”
