By Tolúlopé Olátúnjí
As the countdown to the 2024 Summer Olympics passed the 50-day mark, Paris celebrated by hoisting the iconic Olympic rings onto the Eiffel Tower. The rings were displayed for the first time on Friday, June 7, marking a significant milestone in the lead-up to the Games.
Overnight, workers assembled the prefabricated steel rings and lifted the 30-tonne, 29-metre-long logo into place between two legs of the Eiffel Tower, just above its first level.
The rings, each measuring nine metres in diameter, were manufactured from recycled material by steel company ArcelorMittal.
Engineer Pierre Engel noted that extensive tests and studies had been conducted to ensure the operation’s success.
In same vein, the Director of Events and Ceremonies at the Paris Organising Committee for the Olympic Games, Thierry Reboul, stated, “The rings will be illuminated every night, creating a striking visual symbol for the upcoming Olympics. It will be one of the images of the Games.”
In addition to the Eiffel Tower, the Olympic rings have also been installed at the Paris La Defense Arena in suburban Nanterre, the venue for the Olympic and Paralympic swimming events.
The Georges-Vallerey pool, another training venue for the Games, has long displayed the rings, having hosted the swimming competitions at the 1924 Olympics.
The Paris 2024 Summer Olympics will take place from July 26 to August 11, 2024.
The Olympic rings are one of the most iconic symbols in the world, representing the unity and diversity of the Olympic movement. Designed by Pierre de Coubertin, the founder of the modern Olympic Games, in 1913, the rings symbolise the union of the five inhabited continents—Africa, the Americas, Asia, Europe, and Oceania—and the international meeting of athletes at the Olympic Games.
The rings convey a message of global unity and shared values of Olympism, featuring five interlocking rings in blue, yellow, black, green, and red on a white background, with each colour appearing on at least one national flag worldwide.
