By Rory Carroll
PARIS (Reuters) – Actor Tom Cruise, singers John Legend and Ariana Grande and Vogue editor-in-chief Anna Wintour were among the many celebrities packed into Bercy Arena in Paris on Sunday to witness the return of Simone Biles to the Olympic stage.
Biles, the most decorated gymnast in history, is back for her third Games after withdrawing from most of her events at the Tokyo Games in 2021 with mental health issues.
“It’s awesome,” Cruise told Reuters in the stands at the Arena.
“Great stories, great athletes. It’s incredible what they have to do, the sense of accomplishment,” he said.
Legend and wife Chrissy Teigen said there was nowhere they would rather be.
“This was on our bucket list, we wanted to make sure we came to this event. We’re very excited,” he told Reuters.
“They represent the best of America and we are so proud of them and excited for them. Let’s go USA.”
The sold-out arena erupted when the U.S. team was announced and let out a deafening roar when four-time Olympic gold medallist Biles was introduced.
Other celebrities on hand included rapper Snoop Dogg, actress Jessica Chastain and NFL great Larry Fitzgerald.
“She is so resilient to be able to overcome that and put herself back in position from a few years ago to be able to do something that is truly remarkable,” Fitzgerald said.
One young girl lucky enough to get her hands on a ticket to see Biles live in action was hoping to follow in her idol’s footsteps.
Five-year-old Biles super fan Georgia, who was in the stands with her father Andrew Pearce of Alabama, was seen performing some impressive gymnastics manoeuvres in the corridors outside the competition arena.
“I’m practicing because when I grow up, I’m going to be in the Olympics,” an excited Georgia said.
(Gabrielle Tétrault-Farber, Rory Carroll, Chang-Ran Kim and Karen Braun, editing by Pritha Sarkar)
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