Tom Cruise pulls off epic stunt to close out Paris Olympics

Tom Cruise has pulled off a Mission Impossible-style stunt at the Paris Olympics closing ceremony.

The movie star jumped from the top of Stade de France and landed on the stadium field where the official Olympic flag awaited him.

The spectacular event marked the end of the Games and the handing over of the torch to Los Angeles, which is set to host the 2028 Summer Games.

Cruise took the flag from LA Mayor Karen Bass and gold medallist Simone Biles before riding off on a motorcycle through the streets of Paris and boarding a plane near the Eiffel Tower.

A dramatic pre-recorded video then showed the actor flying the coveted flag to the US and skydiving to the famed Hollywood sign in Los Angeles.

He then attached the five multicoloured Olympic rings to the two Os in the Hollywood sign.

TMZ reported earlier this month that Cruise had approached the International Olympic Committee about being involved in the closing ceremony.

The Oscar-nominated actor is a longtime fan of the Olympics and even carried the torch in Los Angeles in 2004 ahead of the Games in Athens, Greece.

This year, he was photographed cheering on Team USA at the women's gymnastics qualifiers on 28 July.

"It's awesome," he told Reuters. "Great stories, great athletes. It's incredible what they have to do, the sense of accomplishment."