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“As mayor of Paris, the decision is up to me and I have the agreement of the IOC. So yes, they will stay on the Eiffel Tower.”
That’s Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo, from an interview with the French daily Ouest France during the Olympic Games, but published now, explaining that the Olympic Rings will remain on the Eiffel Tower.
Installed on 7 June, the Rings as currently displayed are too heavy to remain attached for a long period of time, and so they will be replaced with a lighter version. As currently installed, the Rings are 29 m wide (95-2) and 13 m high (42-8) and are 60 m (196-10) off the ground, requiring four cranes to install. But they will have to be replaced.
Hidalgo did not say that the Rings will become a permanent part of the landmark. Moreover, she noted that because the Eiffel Tower is sometimes used to create messages of support for other countries, the Rings may be covered during those times, as the International Olympic Committee is keen to maintain political neutrality.
Hidalgo was thrilled with the success of the Games, saying it was the result of a lot of effort:
“We worked for almost ten years for this result, which is not just linked to the Olympic and Paralympic Games. These Games are an accelerator of all the transformations of the city.
“Paris will never be the same again: in the minds of the French, in the minds of Parisians, in the minds of the world. Like the universal exhibitions or the Games of 1900 or 1924, we have collectively become aware that we have built and then lived and shared a historic moment. Like, and even if I do not want to compare what is not, the spirit of celebration that there was at the Liberation of Paris in 1944 and of which we commemorated the 80th anniversary a few days ago. I want this spirit of celebration to remain!
“Yes, many have fallen in love with Paris again. It makes me happy, after ten years of bashing, telling us that it was going to be hell. Hating Paris, some had even made it their business. Today, many tell me that the city is magnificent and tell me about the joy of staying in Paris, of reclaiming their capital.”
And she went further:
“We feel this joy of being together so strongly during the Paralympic Games. The detractors have understood that their denigration business no longer has any weight because instead, we are in a message of inclusion and tolerance.
“We are also far from the caricature of Parisians who would be either ultra-privileged, who understand nothing about the country, or ultra-bobos, who would live on another planet.”
She also disagreed with the idea that the naysayers simply left during the Games and will return, adding, “No, I don’t think so. Many Parisians have not fled Paris. I had advised them to stay.”
Hidalgo also said that the 10 statutes of French women shown during the Olympic opening on the Seine will be displayed after the Games; there are also plans to keep the balloon-shaped Olympic cauldron in the Tuileries Garden, although this decision is not up to the City of Paris, as it is on state lands.
~ Rich Perelman
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