When Will the Olympic Games End? (and Is Tom Cruise Involved?)
I would watch the Olympics all day, every day, all year if I could, but the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris can’t go on forever. The Summer Olympics will end on Sunday, August 11.
When and how to watch the closing ceremony of the Summer Olympics
The closing ceremony of the Olympics will take place at the French national stadium Stade de France, and the start of events is scheduled for Sunday, August 11, at 20:00 Paris time. It is 2:00 pm Eastern Time and 11:00 am Pacific Time.
You can watch the closing ceremony live on NBC or live on NBC’s Peacock platform on August 11 at 2:00 pm ET/11:00 pm PT.
What to expect from the Olympic closing ceremony
Don’t believe for a second that the Olympic Closing Ceremony is an “all business” event. There is a strict set of protocols that will be followed so that all the medals will not count and they will have to do it all over again (I think). Here’s how it will happen:
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Entrance of the Head of State (HOS) and the President of the International Olympic Committee (IOC).
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Performance of the national anthem
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Entry of country flag
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Parade of athletes
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Victory ceremonies
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Introduction of the newly elected IOC Athletes’ Commission members and recognition of volunteers
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A moment of memory
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Performance of the Greek anthem.
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Lowering of the Olympic flag and flag handover ceremony
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Next Leading Feature Segment
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Speech by the OCOG President and speech by the IOC President
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Putting out the Olympic flame
We also know that the closing ceremony’s theme will be “Records,” and the performance will feature over 100 acrobats, dancers and circus performers, as well as “world-famous singers” who have yet to be named.
Will Tom Cruise be there?
There are rumors that Tom Cruise will take part in the closing ceremony of the Olympic Games. According to TMZ , Cruise will descend from the top of the Stade de France and land on the stadium field with the Olympic flag.
The next city to host the Olympics will be Los Angeles, and the program has a section called “The Next Artistic Host Stage.” If it turns out that Tom Cruise is doing a ridiculous Mission: Impossible- style stunt in front of the whole world, I will be ashamed of my hometown.
Where did the closing ceremony come from?
You can imagine that the ceremonial pomp and ritual, as well as the joyful artistic expression of the opening and closing ceremonies of the Olympic Games, are based on the Greek traditions that gave rise to the Games themselves. And they exist, but only indirectly.
There are no historical records of the specific events of the opening or closing ceremonies of the ancient Greek games, except for descriptions of the “parades, processions and sacrifices to the gods” that marked both the beginning and the end of Greek festivals in general. The Greeks constantly wove dance, music and art into their lives, and the opening and closing ceremonies of the modern Games are a tribute to this, even if the details (and the Olympic rings, and the medal ceremonies, and the Olympic flame, and indeed most of the Olympic Games) were invented at the beginning of the 20th century .
However, we must return the victims.
What will people be upset about at the closing ceremony?
There’s no telling what will be of interest to those people who are appalled by cultural expression, but you can bet that some of the hundreds of people attending the Olympic closing ceremony will be blaspheming all that is good and sacred. After all, the closing ceremonies take place in Paris, and the French have a long and amazing tradition of artistic provocation.