Who was the mystery masked torch bearer at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games opening ceremony?

Despite the rain’s attempt to steal the show at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games opening ceremony, the Olympic spirit prevailed, and the party was celebrated with full fervor. The ceremony was filled with iconic moments and stellar performances by singers Céline Dion, Lady Gaga, Aja Nakamura, Juliet Armanet and the French band Gojira.

The athletes parading in the boats were undoubtedly the main attraction, but the mystery torch bearer has also attracted the attention of those watching the event and he’s back at the closing ceremony.

Who was the torch bearer at the Paris 2024 Olympic Ceremony?

The mysterious character first appeared in a boat to the music of the Phantom of the Opera and carried the Olympic torch for much of the ceremony. The bearer then walked across Paris’ rooftops, in the best style of the Assassins Creed game, and through iconic places like the Louvre and the Musee d’Orsay. As expected, its last stop was Place du Trocadéro, where many of us hoped that the person playing the role would reveal who was under the mask. This wasn’t to be.

The appearance caused much speculation on social media, everyone wanting to know the mysterious masked identity. Even Louis Vuitton tweeted this on his X account about the appearance to increase the doubts: “A masked torchbearer crosses the roofs and ateliers of the Maison at Pont Neuf, revealing the savoir-faire of the craftsmen of the #LouisVuitton Medals Trunks for the Olympic Games Paris 2024.” We could see that the mysterious person was none of the artists that had already participated in the ceremony.

Some online commentators believed that the mysterious figure could be the singer Céline Dion. Others just joked that the person under the mask was Snoop Dogg. Unfortunately, all of us who wanted to know the identity would be left wondering as the masked figure only handed the Olympic torch to football legend Zinedine Zidane and left without revealing who was underneath! There was still no final reveal when the Olympic flame was lit, the mysterious figure did not show up again, and his identity will still remain a mystery!

Mystery Olympic torch bearer revealed

The enigma was unraveled on Saturday, however, or at least in part. Simon Nogueira, a French free-running champion, disclosed that he was among those portraying the role during the opening ceremony. ‘Among those’ is rather important as this means, he was just one of a team of masked individuals, something that was fairly clear from all the appearances on the night.

In an Instagram post, Nogueira shared: “I obviously wasn’t everywhere. Other incredible artists also embodied this character.” He shared several stories featuring the rooftops of Paris, but later removed all his posts. Was he told to by organisers keen to keep the mystery alive? We do not know.

12 mystery masks

Then more information came out, although still nothing conclusive for our insatiable intrigue. Clement Dumais, who was the 2019 Chase Tag World Champion and also a seven-time Ninja Warrior finalist, engaged with followers on X, saying that, “In all, there were 12 of them playing the character!” He also made it clear that he was not one of them. “Relax, I didn’t say it was me, I will do a live in one year to tell you the truth.”

We have an inkling that we won’t have to wait that long to find out more, and when we have more information we’ll bring it to you. Maybe the Parisian organisers will use the huge intrigue to add to the spectacle of the closing ceremony.