Paris 2024: 5 Things To Know About The Olympic Cauldron
The Olympic cauldron in the shape of a hot air balloon made a sensation during the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games on Friday, July 26, when it soared into the sky of the capital. However, being attached to a balloon is not its only peculiarity! Here are 5 things to know about the Paris 2024 Games cauldron.
1- It was designed by Mathieu Lehanneur.
The Olympic cauldron of the Paris 2024 Games, so unique, is one of the three objects imagined by Mathieu Lehanneur for this historic event. These three creations share a common feature: their metallic hue derived from the mix of medal colors: gold, silver, and bronze.
A French designer born in 1974, Mathieu Lehanneur works for major brands in the luxury, sports, and hospitality industries and regularly undertakes large-scale projects. Notably, he is responsible for creating the Studio 13/16 for teenagers at the Centre Georges-Pompidou and renovating the Grand Palais in 2014.
Following the Olympic torch and cauldron, the cauldron he designed is the final object of the Flame Relay and undoubtedly the most spectacular!
2- It pays tribute to several French inventions.
The Olympic cauldron for the Paris 2024 Games is an extraordinary object due to its design and technology. It consists of a flaming ring with a diameter of 7 meters topped by a monumental balloon.
The entire structure measures 30 meters in height, which did not prevent it from soaring into the Parisian sky on Friday, July 26th, during the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games!
With this hot-air balloon-shaped cauldron, Mathieu Lehanneur wanted to pay tribute to the first flights that marked the history of France. It was in Paris that the very first human flight took place in 1783. The scholar Pilâtre de Rozier and the Marquis d'Arlandes were able to ascend into the air thanks to the research of the Montgolfier brothers.
It was also in France that physicist Jacques Charles invented the gas balloon filled with hydrogen that same year. More powerful and safer than the Montgolfier brothers' hot-air balloon, it took off from the Tuileries Garden, the same green space where Henri Giffard invented the captive balloon in 1878 and where today one can admire the hot-air balloon cauldron of the Paris 2024 Olympics!
3- It runs on 100% renewable electricity.
Even though the Olympic cauldron is part of the great history of balloon flights in Paris, it is also an object resolutely oriented towards the future, innovative and ecological.
For the first time in the history of the Olympic Games, this flame illuminates the host city of the Olympics without fossil fuels or greenhouse gas emissions. It operates using electricity as its sole energy source.
This cauldron creates the illusion of a flame through the combination of a mist cloud and beams of light. Its giant flame ring integrates 40 LED projectors that illuminate the cloud formed by 200 high-pressure mist nozzles. But the true technical feat lies in ensuring the delivery of electricity and water 60 meters above the ground when the cauldron is in flight.
This achievement was made possible thanks to EDF, a premium partner of the event, which provides 100% renewable electricity produced in France for the occasion. This green electricity powers all the Olympic sites, including the spectacular hot air balloon cauldron!
She will spend the Games sometimes on the ground, sometimes in the air.
The most incredible feature of the 2024 Olympic cauldron is, of course, its ability to navigate between land and sky. Its ascent into the sky of the capital after being lit by Marie-José Pérec and Teddy Riner was not a unique event.
Throughout the duration of the Games, the cauldron will remain on the ground from 11 AM to 7 PM, allowing the public to come and admire it.
But then, from sunset until 2 AM, it will once again rise more than 60 meters above the ground. It will take flight every evening so that those present in Paris can see it shine in the sky.
5- The Olympic cauldron is a victim of its own success.
People who are fortunate enough to stay in Paris during the Olympic Games rushed to admire the Paris 2024 cauldron in the Tuileries Garden.
The organizers have planned for 10,000 people per day to be able to approach the cauldron at a rate of 300 entries per quarter hour. Throughout the duration of the Games, the Tuileries Garden will be open to visitors from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m., with a capacity set at 3,000 people present simultaneously in the park.
Entry is free but you must reserve your visit slot through an online ticketing system. However, the cauldron has generated such enthusiasm that the ticketing website was overwhelmed. By the morning of July 28, there were no available slots until the site was unblocked and new slots appeared.
You can continue to check the website below to see if any slots become available. Additionally, Mathieu Lehanneur, the designer of this exceptional object, hopes that his work will remain permanently in the Tuileries, in the heart of the capital.
