Tom Cruise did his best to steal the show at an extraordinary au revoir to the Paris Olympics, descending from the top of the Stade de France on a cable to mark the handover of hosting duties to Los Angeles 2028.
Yet even Hollywood's biggest superstar must have known his splendid cameo at the closing ceremony couldn't possibly upstage the most magnifique of all Olympics.
For LA, it should be known - that's Mission Impossible.
But what a way to end two fantastic weeks in the French capital.
The 62-year-old's daredevil act on Sunday night was cheered to the rafters that he'd abseiled from by 80,000 cheering supporters, and thousands more of the world's best athletes who'd thronged to France's national stadium.
They included a huge contingent from Australia’s record-breaking team, revelling one last time as they prepared to bring home a record 18 gold medals.
They were led by their flagbearers, 28-year-old repeat champion sailor Matt Wearn, who'd achieved his victory in the Marseille regatta, and double gold medallist from the pool, the great Kaylee McKeown.
And in the parade of champions there were a host of their other victors, including golden girl, double canoe slalom champion Jess Fox, later introduced as one of the new members of the IOC Athletes Commission.
The Aussies were in understandably buoyant mood, dancing on the track to 'Freed from Desire', amid the extraordinary sight of the world's best sportsmen and women bouncing up and down in unison to the Gala hit.
But after another spectacular son et lumiere show on the theme of Olympic records, fresh from the vivid imagination of creative director Thomas Jolly, whose opening ceremony had caused plenty of waves, the fun really only started properly when the handover to LA began.
After the mayor of LA Karen Bass had been handed the Olympic flag, accompanied by the Games' biggest star, Simone Biles, all eyes switched to the stadium roof where the even-tinier-than-usual figure of Cruise swooped down from about 40 metres to gasps among the athletes below.
He then swept regally through them, enjoying the high fives and selfies, before taking the flag, jumping on a motor bike and racing through the arena before Tinseltown took over, producing a movie of him riding into a plane and eventually skydiving into the Hollywood Hills.
It was not quite as splendid as the Queen leaping out of a helicopter with James Bond for London 2012 - but it was a good try, Tom.
Still, Cruise wasn't the biggest star of the night for the home audience, who broke into cheers and chants of "Leon, Leon!" when Paris 2024's equivalent of Cathy Freeman in 2000, golden swimmer Leon Marchand, turned up with the flame.
Later, the US glitz did take over with Billie Eilish, the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Snoop Dogg and Dr. Dre doing their stuff in a live link-up from Venice Beach in Los Angeles as the athletes partied to the end.
But parting was clearly such sweet sorrow. Paris 2024 organiser Tony Estanguet told them: "We knew you would be brilliant, but you were magic. The most difficult part of any love affair is saying goodbye, so of course we don’t want it to end."
IOC President Thomas Bach added: "Despite all the tensions in our world, you made the City of Light shine brighter than ever before. Thank you for making us believe in a better world for everyone.
"We know the Olympic Games cannot create peace, but the Olympic Games can create a climate of peace that inspires the world. Let us live this culture of peace every single day."
It was, he said, a "sensational Games from start to finish", before admitting that he'd actually got that wrong.
What he had meant to say, he explained, was that they had been "Seine-sational."
And who on earth could disagree?
