The closing ceremony of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games got an injection of American star power as Tom Cruise made a surprise appearance during the festivities with a few high-octane stunts.
As the ceremony drew closer to a close, the Games were officially transferred to the United States ahead of the LA 2028 Games. As part of the ceremonial passing of the torch, a spotlight was put on the roof of the Stade de France where Cruise standing on the ledge complete with a harness that lowered him down to the stadium grounds.
Once he got onto the grounds he took the Olympic flag and then mounted a motorcycle where he took the flag out of the stadium. It was as theatrical as you would expect an Olympic Games handover to LA would be and an epic one at that.
I mean, of course Tom Cruise was the one who took the Olympic flag to LA
As theatrical as you would expect an Olympic Games in Hollywood to be #Paris2024
— Preston Hodgkinson (@NHLHodgkinson) August 11, 2024
That was not it for Cruise, as the ceremony then shifted over to a pre-recorded video that showed Cruise riding that motorcycle into a plane where he then sky-dived overtop of LA and then altered the iconic “Hollywood” sign to include the Olympic rings.
🇺🇸🔥This was epic. LA 2028. Bring it on.
Tom Cruise the first of many celebrities to grace the Hollywood Olympics.
Just absolutely electric stuff from this closing ceremony presentation.
— Ben Steiner (@BenSteiner00) August 11, 2024
It was a grand way to get people to look forward to the next Summer Olympics in four years, but that was only the start. After weeks of speculation, all of the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Billie Eilish, and, of course, Dr. Dre and Snoop Dogg performed on Venice Beach in Los Angeles to commemorate the handing over of the games.
These Olympics would have felt incomplete without a Snoop Dog performance#Paris2024
— Preston Hodgkinson (@NHLHodgkinson) August 11, 2024
As the festivities shifted back to Paris, the Games were officially declared to be over with French singer Yseault belting out a beautiful rendition of Frank Sinatra’s “My Way”.
Cérémonie de clôture 🎆 : le spectacle se termine avec la chanteuse Yseult, qui nous interprète My Way, une chanson originale de Claude François, qui a été adaptée par Paul Anka pour Frank Sinatra.#CeremonieDecloture #Paris2024 #jeuxolympiques #RCsports @iciradiocanada… pic.twitter.com/TFJbuHpJdQ
— Radio-Canada Sports (@RC_Sports) August 11, 2024
The wait is on as the LA 2028 Games is now officially 1,439 days away.