The Paris authorities want the Olympic flame currently standing in the Tuileries Gardens to remain in the French capital after the games, the daily “Le Figaro” reported. The mayor of Paris, Anne Hidalgo, would like her city to keep other objects as well – the Olympic rings placed on the Eiffel Tower and the 10 figures that emerged from the waters of the Seine during the opening ceremony.
As Le Figaro reported on Saturday, Prime Minister Gabriel Attal said he thought it was a “good idea.” Those words echoed three petitions calling for the symbol of the current games to be kept in the capital. The petitions appeared shortly after the opening ceremony.
Anne Hidalgo would also like Paris to keep other objects, such as the Olympic rings on the Eiffel Tower and the 10 figures that emerged from the waters of the Seine during the opening ceremony. These figures represented women who played an important role in history. France.
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These art objects are “symbolic” and “magnificent”, “they are worth all our attention”, the mayor said in recent days. “I can't say they will stay, because the decision is not mine alone”, she added, emphasizing, however, that “we would like to preserve them”.
Olympic Torch in Paris ANDRE PAIN/PAP/EPA
Macron “leans towards the idea”
Macron, as reported by media on Friday, seems to be leaning towards the idea of leaving the Olympic torch. Sports Minister Amelie Oudea-Castera said the head of state asked for such a possibility to be investigated, in particular the torch's resistance to winter temperatures, as well as the costs.
The owner of the Tuileries Gardens, where the Olympic torch currently stands suspended from a balloon, is the French state.
Night shot of the Olympic flame in Paris Jan Woitas / POOL/PAP/EPA
Filled with electric light
The candle in the form of a ring with a diameter of seven meters is filled not with fire but with electric light. The technical solution used consists in using a powerful stream of light thrown on the “fog” (scattered water) produced by 200 nozzles under high pressure. In the evening, the candle rises into the sky, lifted by a balloon to a height of 60 meters.
The Olympic flame was originally supposed to be available in the Tuileries Gardens for anyone who wanted to see it after downloading a free ticket through the official games website, but these are no longer available.
Main image source: ANDRE PAIN/PAP/EPA