From the Minions to a beheaded Marie Antoinette and a Smurf-blue Dionysus, the Paris 2024 Olympic Games opening ceremony sparked much discussion online.
Another moment that attracted the audience’s attention was the masked figure who appeared carrying the Olympic torch for much of the ceremony on Friday night (July 26).
Dressed in a black cloak with a hood and with their face hidden by a fencing mask, the mysterious character ran across the French capital’s rooftops, ziplined across the Seine, and brought the Olympic flame to iconic places like the Musée d’Orsay and the Louvre.
One of the standout figures during the opening ceremony of the Paris 2024 Olympics was the masked torch bearer who ziplined across the Seine
Image credits: Jamie Squire/Getty Images
They last stopped at the Place du Trocadéro, where they handed the torch to the French football legend Zinedine Zidane before leaving the scene without revealing themselves. Zidane went on to pass the torch to Spanish tennis star Rafael Nadal.
The three-and-a-half-hour opening ceremony, produced by Thomas Jolly, also featured performances by Lady Gaga and Céline Dion, as well as R&B star Aya Nakamura and local metal icons Gojira.
The mysterious figure handed the torch to football legend Zinedine Zidane
The protagonists of the event, the 7,000 athletes who will compete to bring glory to their countries, waved to the crowds from 85 boats that took them across the River Seine under a cloudy sky.
On social media, viewers speculated about the identity of the masked torch bearer and the character that may have inspired their outfit.
People quickly began speculating about the identity of the hooded acrobat
Did anyone else just hear the opening credits of #JonathanCreek?
The mystery is .. who is the torchbearer? #OpeningCeremony #olympics2024 #BBCOlympics #Olympics #Paris2024 pic.twitter.com/CyPd2gG2oH
— Smedley (@Smedley2013) July 26, 2024
Hear me out…
Olympics torchbearer, roof-jumper, tumbler is a reference to Assassins Creed characters, created by Ubisoft, a French developer. pic.twitter.com/TVhaxbScu5— Mary Ann Kelly (@IBScienceLady) July 26, 2024
Does anyone know who was the hooded mask torchbearer at the #Paris2024 opening ceremony?
The real person, not the characters he was inspired…
He must be an acrobat or a parkour specialist….
He was so cool.. Chapeau..👏👏👏 pic.twitter.com/pRiQQuurLd— Someone. Dylan Wang. (@Adriana80791695) July 27, 2024
Some have compared it to Arno Dorian, the character in the Ubisoft game Assassin’s Creed Unity, which is set during the French Revolution from 1789 to 1794. Headquartered in Saint-Mandé in the eastern suburbs of Paris, Ubisoft is one of the world’s largest independent video game publishers, making the theory that Arno inspired the masked figure plausible.
But the mysterious bearer was reportedly inspired by a number of characters from French culture, in addition to Dorian, including the Phantom of the Opera and detective Arsène Lupin.
Who was the hooded figure bearing the Olympic torch?
On Saturday, one day after the elaborate ceremony, the enigma of the hooded figure’s identity was partly revealed.
Simon Nogueira, a French free-running champion, disclosed that he was at least one of the people who played the role during the event.
“I obviously wasn’t everywhere. Other incredible artists also hid on this character,” the 27-year-old wrote on the deleted Instagram post alongside a photo of himself in the mask.
Simon Nogueira, a French free-running champion, was revealed to be one of the people behind the mask
According to Clement Dumais, the 2019 Chase Tag World Champion and seven-time Ninja Warrior finalist, a total of 12 people wore the mask during the ceremony. Dumais clarified that he wasn’t among those playing the acrobat, saying, “Relax, I didn’t say it was me. I will do a live in one year to tell you the truth.”
“For the part on the roofs, it was obviously the goat Simon Nogueira.”
Simon Nogueria shares videos of himself running across Parisian rooftops
Nogueira also climbed the iconic Notre Dame Cathedral five months before a structural fire broke out in its roof space in April 2019.
The young acrobat and photographer has worked with brands like Saint Laurent, Netflix, Reebok, and PlayStation, according to his website. Interestingly, he has also played characters from Assassin’s Creed Unity and Assassin’s Creed Syndicate in promotional videos for Ubisoft.
@trifonovaxz Please tell me I’m not the only one 😭 | PLS PRETEND I USED A SLEEP TOKEN SONG ‼️😭🙏 btw – I am NOT sexualizing him, however, if anyone decides to do so – their comment will be deleted. #fyp #olympics #2024 #viral #foryou #editaudio #hearmeout #relatable #foryoupageofficiall ♬ Karma x Gimme More Brit Smith version – ᴛʀɪғᴏɴᴏᴠᴀ ೀ
@atraktrans Esse bofe da mascara das olimpiadas é tudo né fias @Simon Nogueira 🫦🫦 #olimpiadas #fy #olimpiadas #paris2024 #brasil🇧🇷 ♬ Ritmada Tchau Obrigado – DJ LKS 067 & MC BF & FreesTyle Sounds
People were impressed by the masked figure’s performance at the Olympics, writing, “Assassin’s creed character? Is that you?”
“I WAS RECORDING HIM EVERY TIME HE CAME ON SCREEN,” said another.
Others focused on the detailed outfit, adding, “The costume designer outdid themselves. The costume is really cool.”
Social media users praised Nogueira’s “unmatched” skills
