Tom Cruise Was Part of the Olympics After Attending a Number of Different Events

After two weeks of competition and excitement in Paris, the 2024 Olympics have come to a close. These Olympic Games, which featured plenty of stunning moments across the competition, have left a largely positive impression on most people, including the many celebrities who were in attendance for various events.

Among those celebrities was Tom Cruise, who has been seen watching everything from women's soccer to women's gymnastics, and has left many wondering exactly what he's doing at the Olympics, and why he was in the closing ceremony. Here's what we know about why Tom Cruise was at the 2024 Olympics.

As a Hollywood icon, Tom Cruise was called upon to signify the transition of the Olympic flag from the 2024 Paris setting to Los Angeles, where the 2028 Summer Games will be held. As part of the 2024 closing ceremonies, Tom jumped from the top of the stadium in Paris down to the ground and then shook everyone's hand as he moved toward the stage, where LA mayor Karen Bass and Simone Biles (who was wearing a boot) were waiting with the Olympic flag.

Bass and Simone were there to represent the passing of the flag to LA for 2028, and after they gave the flag to Tom, he pinned it onto a waiting motorcycle which he then proceeded to drive through the streets of Paris. Then, he got on a plane, and the camera cut to a view of the city of Los Angeles. He was then seen standing in front of a modified version of the Hollywood sign that now includes the signature Olympic rings.

From there, the flag was given to Michael Johnson, who ran it to the beach, where Snoop Dogg, the Red Hot Chili Peppers, and Billie Eilish were waiting to perform a mini-concert.

In summary, then, Tom was involved in the 2024 Olympics because of his role as a movie star representing Hollywood, and because he's willing to do fairly dangerous stunts that look cool on camera.

The other reason Tom seemed to be around so much during the 2024 Olympics is because the movie star was already in Europe anyway. He is currently filming Mission: Impossible 8 in Europe, so taking some days off to watch athletes compete at a high level seems only natural. He was far from the only celebrity in attendance for at least some events at the games, and in retrospect, it makes sense that many of the most famous Americans in attendance were in some way connected to LA.

The best example of this may be Snoop Dogg, who worked with NBC throughout the Games and then got to perform at the conclusion of the Games. Snoop is a famously LA-based rapper, and his inclusion was a reminder that the Games will next make their home on the west coast of the U.S. That's still four years away, though, so for now, all we know for sure is that we'll always have Paris.