The Olympic torch, where the Olympic flame of the Paris Olympics will burn, was unveiled on Tuesday as part of the one-year preparations for the event. Made of recycled steel in the French factories of ArcelorMittal, sponsor of the Olympic Games, it will make its first public outing in the afternoon on the Seine, with athletes.
The object imagined by designer Mathieu Lehanneur will not have a flared shape as traditionally, but is presented with a tight upper part and a lower part, a little oblong. “It is absolutely symmetrical for the first time in its history”, explained the designer, which allows “to highlight the flame more”. “Often when you talk to people, they remember the Olympic rings and torch,” said Organizing Committee Chairman Tony Estanguet.
Two thousand copies, 1,500 for the Olympic Games and 500 for the Paralympic Games, will be manufactured in the French factories of the ArcelorMittal group, said Isabelle Chopin, communication director of the steel giant, upstream. It was decided to reduce their number compared to usual, it will not be possible to buy them, and there will be five times less. The torches will be reused several times during the 80-day torch relay.
They will be made of “recycled steel”, manufactured in Châteauneuf in the Loire, then will go to rolling in Florange (Moselle), and the sheet metal will be cut into sheets in Woippy (Moselle), to then be shaped by goldsmiths and receive the components, in particular the burner. Each model will be “champagne” in color. The lower part will be in polished steel and the upper part in microblasted steel, covered with a “high-tech” coating. The cauldron in which the Olympic flame will be lit will be unveiled later.