The 2024 Paris Olympics have come to a close, and as per tradition, the Olympic flag has been handed over to the next host city: Los Angeles. Of course, though, being the home of Hollywood, LA delivered some classic movie magic to amp up excitement for the 2028 Summer games, enlisting Tom Cruise to do what he does best: some crazy stunts.
The exchange began with the mayor of Paris handing off the Olympic flag to LA mayor Karen Bass, followed by the singing of the American national anthem by California native, H.E.R. From there, H.E.R. played the Mission Impossible theme as searchlights swirled around the stadium, ultimately finding Cruise standing on the rim high above all the action. He then jumped, rappelling down into the crowd, where he greeted Team USA and other athletes and made his way to the center stage.
Taking the Olympic flag from Bass and Olympic champion Simone Biles, Cruise then rushed off on a motorcycle, triggering a pre-recorded segment in which the Top Gun star rode through Paris and right onto an airplane, which took off. Mid-air, he prepared to parachute out, eventually jumping to the soundtrack of Red Hot Chili Peppers’ “By the Way” and parachuting down to the hills outside Los Angeles.
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Cruise then ran up the hill, and assembled some kind of signage on a structure overlooking the city, which was revealed to be the Olympic rings attached to the iconic Hollywood sign. He then handed off the flag to Team USA athletes, who took viewers on a tour of some of Los Angeles’ famous sights, and ultimately ended up at Venice beach. There, Red Hot Chili Peppers kicked off the American portion of the closing ceremony, followed by performances by Billie Eilish, and Snoop Dogg with Dr. Dre.
See moments from the segment below.
Elsewhere in the closing ceremony, the French band Phoenix performed alongside Vampire Weekend’s Ezra Koenig, Air, and more.
Cruise’s recent film, Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One, arrived last year, and the action star is showing no sign of slowing down. This past January, it was revealed that he’ll be returning for Top Gun 3, and another Mission Impossible is due next year. For more, Cruise’s 62nd birthday was last month, but you can still celebrate by revisiting our rundown of 62 random Tom Cruise facts.
IT’S A BIRD. IT’S A PLANE. IT’S TOM CRUISE! 🤯#ParisOlympics | #ClosingCeremony pic.twitter.com/5v4j8pOwBF
— NBC Olympics & Paralympics (@NBCOlympics) August 11, 2024
This is the MOST Tom Cruise that Tom Cruise has ever Tom Cruised. pic.twitter.com/r5ho9xaVsd
— NBC Olympics & Paralympics (@NBCOlympics) August 12, 2024
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