Race to retain the Olympic cauldron begins as Paris Games come to an end

RFI

11 August 2024 at 10:58 am·2-min read

The Olympic cauldron rising over Paris beneath a huge balloon each night has become such a popular sight that it may become a permanent fixture in the City of Light.

The unique version of the Olympic flame, located in the Tuileries Gardens between the Louvre Museum and Concorde obelisk, has been one of many innovations for this year's Games.

The seven-metre ring of flame is not actually fire, but is made up of clouds of mist lit by LED rays, built by French energy firm EDF and powered by 100-percent renewable.

Each night at sunset, it is drawn up into the sky for two hours by a 30-metre helium balloon, coated in light-reflecting satin paint.

All 10,000 daily slots to watch it rise up-close have been booked out until the end of the Games on Sunday, and it will return for the Paralympics at the end of the month.

The "real" Olympic flame – transported from Greece to France – is installed a few steps from the cauldron in a lantern sheltered by a display case.

Now, many politicians are talking about making the cauldron a permanent addition to the Paris skyline.

The decision lies with President Emmanuel Macron's government.

It was an idea first floated by Paris mayor Anne Hidalgo, who told France 2 television she was "very keen" on keeping it.

"I'm not the one who decides since it is on the site of the Louvre, which belongs to the state. So I wrote to the president," she said.

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