Tom Cruise abseils into Stade de France as Paris officially hands over Olympic hosting duties to Los Angeles for 2028; Billie Eilish, Red Hot Chilli Peppers, Snoop Dogg and Dr Dre also perform via video link to LA; Paris 2024 Paralympics begin on August 28 and run to September 8
Monday 12 August 2024 11:16, UK
Tom Cruise provided some Hollywood glamour as the Paris 2024 Olympic Games concluded with a star-studded closing ceremony that signalled the handing over of hosting duties to Los Angeles for 2028.
With LA leaning into one of its key selling points, the razzle dazzle of Hollywood, Cruise's cameo appearance saw him abseil in from the roof of the Stade de France to the Mission Impossible theme.
There were also performances from native Californians Billie Eilish, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Snoop Dogg and Dr Dre via video link to Long Beach in Los Angeles, while five-time Grammy-winning artist H.E.R sung the US national anthem from inside the stadium.
French swimmer Leon Marchant, the Games' most decorated athlete after winning four golds and one bronze in the pool, was also part of the ceremony, collecting the Olympic flame from the Tuileries Gardens in Paris and bringing it into the arena to be officially extinguished.
Team GB's athletes, including the likes of Tom Daley, Helen Glover and Caden Cunningham, were in attendance, kitted out in Hawaiian-style shirts showing the emblems of every nation in Great Britain and Northern Ireland.
Chosen among the GB athletes to be flagbearers were men's triathlon winner Alex Yee and trampoline gold medallist Bryony Page, two of our 14 gold medallists from the Games. Team GB won 65 medals in total, one more than the 64 they managed in Tokyo three years ago.
Yee said of the honour: "There's been so many incredible performances over the last two weeks from Team GB, so to be selected as somebody who's represented Team GB well and made the country proud is really special."
Page added: "When I got the call to tell me, I couldn't believe it. It truly is such an honour. For a sport like trampolining, which is quite niche, it's quite amazing.
"It's a very emotional and proud moment... it just caps an incredible experience."
There was one final medal to be awarded in the early part of the closing ceremony, with the Netherlands' Sifan Hassan accepting her women's marathon gold while wearing a hijab.
France is a country that does not allow its own athletes to wear the headscarf.
When Thomas Bach, president of the International Olympic Committee, gave his address during the closing ceremony, he chose to focus on how the Olympics can create a culture of peace.
"Despite all the tensions in our world, you came here from all 206 national Olympic committees and the IOC Refugee Olympic Team, to make the City of Light shine brighter than ever before," he said.
"Your performances were amazing. You competed fiercely against each other. Every contest on the edge of perfection. Every performance sparking excitement around the world. You showed us what greatness we humans are capable of.
"We know that the Olympic Games cannot create peace. But the Olympic Games can create a culture of peace that inspires the world. This is why I call on everyone who shares this Olympic spirit: let us live this culture of peace every single day."
As for other highlights of the closing ceremony, organisers took an artistic approach in telling the history of the Olympics during a portion of the show where a 'golden voyager' took to the stage in an elaborate gold costume.
After the golden voyager was lowered to the stage from the roof, a cloaked individual presented them with a Greek flag, to represent the Games' ancient origin.
The voyager was later joined on stage by some acrobats who were dressed as alien-like creatures who helped him discover the Olympic rings which were then hoisted into air from the stadium floor.
Hours prior to the Olympics closing ceremony, French police evacuated the area around the Eiffel Tower after a man was seen climbing the Paris landmark.
Police escorted visitors away from the area around 3pm. Some visitors who were briefly locked on the second floor were allowed to exit around 30 minutes later.
"An individual started climbing the Eiffel Tower at 2.45pm, police intervened and the person was detained," a Paris police official told The Associated Press.
The Eiffel Tower was a centre-piece of the opening ceremony, with Celine Dion serenading the city from one of its viewing areas, but did not form part of the closing ceremony.
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