Tom Cruise admires athletes, particularly Olympians. The actor, who’s an athlete himself, was being interviewed by Matt Shirvington and paused the questions when he learned Shirvington is an Olympian.

©GettyImages

The interview was for the new “Mission Impossible” movie, with Cruise attending the “Sunrise” show in Australia, hosted by Matt Shirvington. “Tom, I’ve gotta be honest with you,” said Shirvington. “As a kid growing up, I was a sprinter and went to the Olympic games.”

“Did you? Wow,” interrupted Cruise. He got up from his chair and shook his hand. “What year?” Shirvington revealed that he’d participated in the Sydney games on the year 2000. “I saw you run,” said Cruise, still in shock.

The interview proceeds, with Shirvington praising Cruise’s form and showing a clip of himself running in the Olympics and Cruise running in the latest “Mission Impossible” film. “You’re a great runner,” said Cruise. “I’m a good runner.”

Cruise then explains that while he hasn’t had much formal training in terms of running, he’s been an athlete all of his life, which has helped him over the course of his acting career. “I came out running,” said Cruise, making the hosts laugh. “I was that little kid that gets a new pair of sneakers and has to hit every puddle in their sprint.”

Tom Cruise’s “Mission Impossible: Dead Reckoning - Part 1” premieres this July 12. Over the past week, Cruise has been promoting his work and encouraging fans to stop by theaters to support all of the new summer releases. “This summer is full of amazing movies to see in theaters,” wrote Cruise on Twitter. “Congratulations, Harrison Ford, on 40 years of Indy and one of the most iconic characters in history. I love a double feature, and it doesn’t get more explosive (or more pink) than one with ‘Oppenheimer’ and ‘Barbie.’”