Five highlights from the Paris Olympics closing ceremony, from Tom Cruise to karaoke
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Sunday evening saw the close of the Paris Olympics, with an athlete-focused closing ceremony in the Stade de France.
The opening ceremony led us through the streets of Paris, the sights and the Seine, as hopefuls from every competing country sailed down the river in the pouring rain waving their nation’s flag.
In comparison, the closing ceremony could be considered a bit more stripped back, and the athletes were certainly letting loose and were way more relaxed.
Here are five highlights from last night’s opening ceremony.
Los Angeles will host the next Olympics in 2028 and, as with every closing ceremony, there are few elements of pageantry that are tradition.
For example, the Olympic flag is lowered and handed to the host city’s mayor before being passed to the president of the International Olympic Committee to give it to the mayor of the next host city.
This year had a little something extra, however, and in the most Hollywood way possible.
The mayor of Paris, Anne Hidalgo, had a final wave of the flag before passing it over for the mayor of Los Angelos, Karen Brass. The stadium then stood for the national anthem of America as Brass made her way over to gymnast Simone Biles to hold the flag and the star-spangled banner was raised.
A guitar riff was then played and cameras panned up to the top of the stadium as a spotlight lit up Tom Cruise, who was standing on the edge looking down.
The Mission Impossible actor was on a harness and jumped down, before being mobbed by athletes at the bottom.
Cruise was handed the flag and carried it off stage, where a motorbike was waiting for him.
Maverick then rode out of the stadium with the Olympic flag in tow, through the streets of Paris and onto a plane.
A pre-recorded tape then showed him jumping out of the plane in LA, handing it to cyclist Kate Courtney and posing with the Hollywood sign, which had the Olympic rings built into it.
The flag then made its way to the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, before having its own parade through the leafy streets.
The ceremony began with the Olympians walking onto the pitch of the stadium and it’s undeniable there was a much more laid-back feel this time round.
Like the opening ceremony, French performers were brought in to perform and among them was indie rock bank Phoenix.
Athletes had been encouraged to get close to the stage once the formalities were out of the way. For some, however, this was not close enough and they got up onto the stage, which was shaped like the world’s seven continents.
A number of announcements were made for them to get down but most of them were happy to stay and soak it all up.
They could be seen dancing around Phoenix and it really gave the performance a bit of an intimate feel – rather than being a performance in a massive stadium that was then broadcast around the world.
The athletes were eventually cleared from the stage but it was then Phoenix’s time to get in with them. Lead singer Thomas Mars could be seen crowd-surfing and moshing with them.
All 80,000 plus people in the Stade de France were invited to a great big sing-song, complete with a few French songs and a few tunes that would be recognized the world over.
The first of which was Gala Rizzatto’s Freed From Desire, which is often played before and after sporting events.
The Olympians were jumping and dancing to the song, as well as chanting along.
The second was Queen’s We Are The Champions – for obvious reasons.
Cameras panned around to show the athletes with their arms around each other and singing, while those who had won medals made sure to show them off.
Over 45,000 volunteers were drafted in to support the smooth running of the Paris Olympics, with other City volunteers on the French capital’s streets to help point people in the right direction and offer any help they can.
The closing ceremony made sure to pay tribute to these people, who had been clad in a green uniform for the duration of the Olympics.
The games wouldn’t be possible without the help of all these people who gave up their time, so it was nice to see them get a nod from the organisers.
The whole stadium erupted in applause for the volunteers as some of them gathered on stage to wave back and soak it all up.
The opening ceremony lit up the city, but the closing ceremony well and truly lit up the Stade de France.
On arrival, attendees were given a wristband that was programmed to light up at certain points – those who went to the Era’s tour will recognise the sort.
Unlike those from Taylor Swift’s shows, however, which just lit up the stadium along with her performance, these bands were programmed to create a whole light show themselves.
People in the stadium became part of the show as the bands lit up in such a way to show scenes of athletic competition throughout the years moving from one end of the stadium to the other. It was really a sight to behold.
This part of the ceremony concluded with the Olympic rings lit up and raised above everyone.