Tom Cruise jumps off roof of stadium in Mission Impossible-style stunt at Olympics closing ceremony

Tom Cruise arrived in style at the Olympics closing ceremony, as he leapt off the roof of the Stade de France onto the field.

The Hollywood star was slated to carry out the daring stunt in the months leading up to the highly anticipated Olympics closing ceremony.

Cruise, 62, slid down a rope from the roof of the Stade de France, landing on the pitch to collect the iconic Olympic flag from the mayor of Los Angeles, Karen Bass, and Team USA gymnast Simone Biles.

A pre-filmed movie of the movie star was then played, where he flew over the Atlantic, sky dived out of a plane and raised the iconic flag on the Hollywood sign in California.

Take a look:

In the film following the crazy move, the Mission Impossible star carried it across the Atlantic Ocean, skydiving to the Hollywood sign as an ode to the upcoming 2028 Olympics that will take place in Los Angeles, USA.

That part of the stunt was shot back in March, with people writing the move off as filming for an advert, instead as a piece done for the biggest sporting event in the world.

Cruise has been part of an Olympic ceremony in the past, having carried the torch through LA during a global relay done for the 2004 games in Athens, Greece.

Earlier this week, the Top Gun star said: “It’s awesome.

"Great stories, great athletes.

"It’s incredible what they have to do, the sense of accomplishment.”

The stunt isn't the first nail-biting attempt of Cruise's career, as in last year's Mission Impossible: Dead Reckoning - Part One, he rode off a cliff on a motorbike before sky-diving and deploying his parachute. And yes, he did this a few times.

In a behind-the-scenes featurette about the film, Cruise admitted: “It’s a very beautiful and delicate sport.

“We’re going to do spirals, and we’re landing at an incredibly high speed, over 80 kilometres an hour."

The Ethan Hunt actor claimed that he had been training his whole life for it, saying: “It was actually years of training… because I fly jets, I fly helicopters, I fly aeroplanes. I’m a skydiver, I’m a parachuter, race cars, motorcycles,

“[This film] was a culmination of all my skills…. There’s a lot going on there’s a lot happening… [but] the most important part is getting the shot and getting the story across."

The outstanding closing ceremony comes over two weeks after the jaw-dropping events of the soaking-wet opening ceremony that took place along La Seine.

Lady Gaga came out of nowhere to open the ceremony with a rendition of French song 'Mon Truc En Plumes', the Minions died, and Olympic nations arrived at the games on boats for the first time ever.

If that wasn't enough, a shocking 'blue scrotum' was unveiled on a silver platter in front of millions in what was described as an 'acid trip' opening ceremony, before officials accidentally raised the Olympics flag upside down.

Commentators claimed that the Paris officials had tried to do too much to be different, but we were all left with our jaws on the floor after Celine Dion performed a powerful rendition of 'L’Hymne à l’amour', that was sure to shut critics up about a 'disappointing' ceremony.

It was the first time the artist had performed since her 'stiff person syndrome' diagnosis.

Olympics 2024 highlights - the biggest moments

Anthony Ammirati's penis costs him his medal

The 21-year-old French pole vaulter attempted to clear the 5.70 metres on 3 August when his knee - along with his private parts - got in the way, shattering his Olympic dreams.

Iconic shooter Yusuf Dikec wins silver medal with 'no equipment'

Turkey's Yusuf Dikec took a laid back approach when he was spotted looking incredibly relaxed with one hand in his pocket and without any shooting gear on.

It all paid off though as he took home the silver along with his partner Sevval Ilayda Tarhan.

Noah Lyles' 100m victory

Setting a new personal best, Lyles came out on top at the finish line by a margin of just 0.005 seconds, with a final time of 9.784.

The final also marked the fastest race of all time, with all eight athletes crossing the finish line in under 10 seconds.

George Mills and Hugo Hay's 5000m bust up

Chaos erupted when a total of five athletes found themselves face down on the track after an incident left several runners stumbling on top of each other, including Team GB's George Mills and French runner Hugo Hay.

Mills looked as though he had some harsh words for Hay after the tumble which he admitted he was 'probably not allowed to say'.

Snoop Dogg in general

Snoop went viral after he rocked up to the dressage team Grand Prix Special fully kitted out in breeches, a dressage tailcoat and hard hat alongside pal Martha Stewart. Iconic.

Ana Carolina Vieira gets sent home for breaking athletes' village rules with boyfriend

Ana Carolina Vieira was sent home after she and her boyfriend Gabriel Santos - also a swimmer competing in the Olympics - left the village without permission, which is against the Olympic Village rules.

Team GB star becomes first ever Olympian to win medal in both male and female events

Coxswain Henry Fieldman made history when he won bronze at the women's crews event off the back of his bronze win in Tokyo on the men's team.

Fieldman was able to achieve the feat because of a rule change back in 2017 that allows coxes of either gender to steer the eights.

The River Seine drama

While Canada’s Tyler Mislawchuk vomited after swimming in the river, Belgian triathlete Jolien Vermeylen admitted she 'felt and saw things that we shouldn’t think about too much'.

It came after health concerns were raised over the pollution levels in the river, with the country splashing out a cool £1.18 billion on cleaning it up in time for the games.

Freddie Crittenden jogs for entire race on purpose

The Team USA star purposely put on a leisurely performance in his first heat of the Men's 110m hurdles and ended up being the last one to make it across the finish line with a time of 18.27 seconds.

The athlete said it was a calculated move to avoid aggravating a sore muscle in his leg and due to the introduction of repechage rounds, he knew that he'd have another chance at glory.

'Slow pool' accusations

The pool at the Paris La Défense Arena is 2.15 metres deep which is short of the minimum of 2.5 metres that World Aquatics recommends for an Olympic competition, prompting backlash from viewers.

As a result of the difference in depth, an issue called 'slow' swimming is created where the water is more volatile when dispersed than in a deeper pool.

Imane Khelif's opponent quits boxing match 46 seconds in

The Algerian boxer faced Italy's Angela Carini in the round of 16 match on 1 August when Carini - who has since apologised - decided to abandon the match after 46 seconds.

Khelif - who was born and raised a girl - was disqualified from last year’s Women’s World Boxing Championships in New Delhi amid claims from the International Boxing Association that she was not able to meet their unspecified eligibility criteria.

Khelif has since been at the centre of a gender row, and has urged people to 'refrain from bullying all athletes' amid abuse online.

In the end, she silenced her critics in the best way possible: with a gold medal in the welterweight division.

Luana Alonso 'kicked out' of Olympic Village

The Paraguayan swimmer was said to have been asked to leave the village amid accusations of creating an 'inappropriate environment', according to a statement from her team.

Alonso - who also announced her retirement from the sport - has since denied the claims and urged people to 'stop spreading false information'.

Gold medal winner Thomas Ceccon spotted sleeping in park amid village complaints

The athlete, who won gold in the men's 100m backstroke, was spotted taking a nap outside by Saudi rower Husein Alireza who posted it to his Instagram account, tagging the spot as a location within the official Olympic Village.

Speaking about his accommodation, Ceccon said: "It's hard to sleep both at night and in the afternoon. Usually, when I'm at home, I always sleep in the afternoon. Here I really struggle between the heat and the noise."

Steven van de Velde booed while making his Olympic debut

The convicted child rapist was booed as he competed in the preliminary phase of the beach volleyball men’s tournament at the start of the games last month.

In 2016, Van de Velde was sentenced to four years in prison after admitting three counts of rape against a 12-year-old girl in August 2014, with many furious that he has been allowed to compete in the Olympics.

George Mills squares up to opponent

The men's 5,000 metres heats erupted into chaos on Wednesday (7 August), with Team GB's George Mills accusing France's Hugo Hay of pushing him.

The two athletes even shared a tense exchange at the finish line.

Four runners ended up on the floor in the tumble, with three of them put through to the final.

But Mills ultimately didn't end up with a medal, finishing 21st in the final with a time of 13:32:32.

Jordan Chiles stripped of medal

It was a heartbreaking Olympics for Team USA gymnast Jordan Chiles.

After she'd walked away with a bronze medal on the women's floor exercise gymnastics, a court ruled that a Team USA inquiry that secured her podium finish came four seconds too late.

As such, Romania's Ana Barbosu was reinstated in third, with Chiles potentially having to hand back her medal.