Olympic Balloon to Rise again in Paris
A giant balloon that became a popular landmark over the skies of Paris during the 2024 Olympics is set to rise again, with organizers hoping it will once again attract crowds of tourists.
During the Games, the Olympic cauldron tethered to a balloon flew above the Tuileries garden at sunset every day, with thousands flocking to see the seven-meter (23 feet) wide ring of electric fire, AFP said.
Last summer's version "had been thought up to last for the length of the Olympic and Paralympic Games," said Mathieu Lehanneur, the designer of the cauldron.
After President Emmanuel Macron "decided to bring it back, all of the technical aspects needed to be reviewed", he told AFP on Thursday.
Lehanneur said he was "very moved" that the Olympic balloon was making a comeback.
"The worst thing would have been for this memory to become a sitting relic that couldn't fly anymore," he said.
The new cauldron will take to the skies on Saturday evening during France's annual street music festival, the Fete de la Musique.
The balloon will rise into the air every evening until September 14 -- a summer tradition set to return every year until the 2028 Los Angeles Games.
"For its revival, we needed to make sure it changed as little as possible and that everything that did change was not visible," said Lehanneur.
With a decarbonated fire patented by French energy giant EDF, the upgraded balloon follows "the same technical principles" as its previous version, said director of innovation at EDF Julien Villeret.
The improved attraction "will last ten times longer" and be able to function for "300 days instead of 30", according to Villeret.
The creators of the balloon also reinforced the light-and-mist system that "makes the flames dance", he said.
Under the cauldron, a machine room hides cables, a compressor and a hydro-electric winch.
That system will "hold back the helium balloon when it rises and pull it down during descent", said Jerome Giacomoni, president of the Aerophile group that constructed the balloon.
"Filled with 6,200 m3 of helium that is lighter than air," the Olympic balloon "will be able to lift around three tons" of cauldron, cables and attached parts, he said.
The Tuileries garden is where French inventor Jacques Charles took flight in his first gas balloon on December 1, 1783, Giacomoni added.
He followed in the footsteps of the famed Montgolfier brothers, who had just nine days earlier elsewhere in Paris managed to launch a similar balloon into the sky with humans onboard.
The website vasqueparis2024.fr is to display the times when the modern-day balloon will rise and indicate any potential cancellations due to weather conditions.
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Arab News
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Paris' iconic cauldron from the Olympic Games returns to light up summer nights
The helium-powered balloon rose again into the air on Saturday, lifting off over the Tuileries Garden just as the sun was about to set After Saturday's flight, the balloon will lift off into the sky each summer evening from June 21 to Sept. 14, for the next three years PARIS: A year after it captivated crowds during the Paris Olympics, a centerpiece of the summer Games made a comeback Saturday to light up the French capital's skyline. The iconic helium-powered balloon that attracted myriads of tourists during the summer Games has shed its Olympic branding and is now just called the 'Paris Cauldron.' It rose again into the air later Saturday, lifting off over the Tuileries Garden just as the sun was about to set. Despite the suffocating hot weather in Paris, around 30,000 people were expected to attend the launch, which coincided with France's annual street music festival — the Fete de la Musique, the Paris police prefecture said. And it won't be a one-time event. After Saturday's flight, the balloon will lift off into the sky each summer evening from June 21 to Sept. 14, for the next three years. The cauldron's ascent may become a new rhythm of the Parisian summer, with special flights planned for Bastille Day on July 14 and the anniversary of the 2024 opening ceremony on July 26. Gone is the official 'Olympic' branding — forbidden under International Olympic Committee reuse rules — but the spectacle remains. The 30-meter (98-foot) -tall floating ring, dreamed up by French designer Mathieu Lehanneur and powered by French energy company EDF, simulates flame without fire: LED lights, mist jets and high-pressure fans create a luminous halo that hovers above the city at dusk, visible from rooftops across the capital. Though it stole the show in 2024, the cauldron was only meant to be temporary, not engineered for multi-year outdoor exposure. To transform it into a summer staple, engineers reinforced it. The aluminum ring and tether points were rebuilt with tougher components to handle rain, sun and temperature changes over several seasons. Though it's a hot-air-balloon-style, the lift comes solely from helium — no flame, no burner, just gas and engineering. The structure first dazzled during the Olympics. Over just 40 days, it drew more than 200,000 visitors, according to officials. Now anchored in the center of the drained Tuileries pond, the cauldron's return is part of French President Emmanuel Macron's effort to preserve the Games' spirit in the city, as Paris looks ahead to the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles.
Asharq Al-Awsat
21 hours ago
- Asharq Al-Awsat
Olympic Balloon to Rise again in Paris
A giant balloon that became a popular landmark over the skies of Paris during the 2024 Olympics is set to rise again, with organizers hoping it will once again attract crowds of tourists. During the Games, the Olympic cauldron tethered to a balloon flew above the Tuileries garden at sunset every day, with thousands flocking to see the seven-meter (23 feet) wide ring of electric fire, AFP said. Last summer's version "had been thought up to last for the length of the Olympic and Paralympic Games," said Mathieu Lehanneur, the designer of the cauldron. After President Emmanuel Macron "decided to bring it back, all of the technical aspects needed to be reviewed", he told AFP on Thursday. Lehanneur said he was "very moved" that the Olympic balloon was making a comeback. "The worst thing would have been for this memory to become a sitting relic that couldn't fly anymore," he said. The new cauldron will take to the skies on Saturday evening during France's annual street music festival, the Fete de la Musique. The balloon will rise into the air every evening until September 14 -- a summer tradition set to return every year until the 2028 Los Angeles Games. "For its revival, we needed to make sure it changed as little as possible and that everything that did change was not visible," said Lehanneur. With a decarbonated fire patented by French energy giant EDF, the upgraded balloon follows "the same technical principles" as its previous version, said director of innovation at EDF Julien Villeret. The improved attraction "will last ten times longer" and be able to function for "300 days instead of 30", according to Villeret. The creators of the balloon also reinforced the light-and-mist system that "makes the flames dance", he said. Under the cauldron, a machine room hides cables, a compressor and a hydro-electric winch. That system will "hold back the helium balloon when it rises and pull it down during descent", said Jerome Giacomoni, president of the Aerophile group that constructed the balloon. "Filled with 6,200 m3 of helium that is lighter than air," the Olympic balloon "will be able to lift around three tons" of cauldron, cables and attached parts, he said. The Tuileries garden is where French inventor Jacques Charles took flight in his first gas balloon on December 1, 1783, Giacomoni added. He followed in the footsteps of the famed Montgolfier brothers, who had just nine days earlier elsewhere in Paris managed to launch a similar balloon into the sky with humans onboard. The website is to display the times when the modern-day balloon will rise and indicate any potential cancellations due to weather conditions.
Arab News
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Outgoing IOC president Thomas Bach faced mammoth challenges
PARIS: Thomas Bach's eventful 12-year tenure as president of the International Olympic Committee comes to an end on Monday when he hands over the reins to Kirsty Coventry, the first woman and African to hold sport's most powerful political office. The 71-year-old German lawyer, a 1976 Olympic team fencing champion, faced many challenges during his time in power. AFP Sport picks out three: President Vladimir Putin was the first person to ring Bach to congratulate him on his election in 2013 — little did Bach realize how Russia was to dog his presidency. The state-sponsored doping scandal at the 2014 Sochi Winter Games and Russia breaking the Olympic Truce twice, in 2014 and 2022, taxed his patience and that of the IOC movement. Bach faced pressure from both sides before the 2024 Paris Games and in the end permitted Russian athletes to compete despite the invasion of Ukraine, but only after being strictly vetted and under a neutral flag. For Michael Payne, a former head of IOC marketing, Russia was the 'large elephant in the room' and Bach was in a 'no-win situation.' His fellow former IOC marketing executive Terrence Burns, who lived and worked in Russia in the 1990s, said Bach was one of many leaders fooled by Putin. 'On doping he should have been harsher,' Burns told AFP. 'But let's be honest, the whole thing was almost unbelievable. 'On Ukraine, you were damned if you do and damned if you don't. 'I don't think any western government or politician has ever figured out Russia... nor did he.' Hugh Robertson, now an IOC member and the British sports minister responsible for overseeing the delivery of the highly successful 2012 London Games, believes Bach played his hand well over the Paris Games. 'The balance he struck over Russian participation in Paris was in line with the Olympic Charter,' Robertson told AFP. 'He took very strong action against the government, banned any events in Russia, any national representation and any national symbols.' Bach had 'a very tough presidency and never caught a break' said Payne, but he always held his nerve. No more so than when Bach resisted calls from within Japan for the Tokyo Games to be canceled, not just postponed to 2021, because of the Covid pandemic. Payne says Bach's painful memories of missing the Moscow Games in 1980 due to a boycott linked to the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, had left their mark. The German said the IOC would not pull the plug. In addition, the ramifications of canceling Tokyo would have been enormous for the IOC. 'Think about if Tokyo had not taken place,' said Payne. 'Would Beijing (the 2022 Winter Games) have taken place as well? 'The Olympic movement losing four years is maybe not existential, but boy it would have been tough.' In the end the Games did go ahead but the majority of athletes performed in empty stadia as local organizers banned spectators. Burns says it was a tour de force from Bach. 'Honestly, I think it was his sheer willpower that made those Games happen when everyone, and I mean everyone, in the world doubted him,' said the American. 'Japan tried to pull out. He called their bluff. Smart.' Robertson saw it from 'inside the bubble' as he was then chairman of the British Olympic Association (BOA). 'Of course it was a huge disappointment that there were no spectators but a generation of athletes got the chance to compete in an Olympic Games,' said the 62-year-old. 'It probably would not have been the case had Bach not been in charge. 'I think athletes around the world owe Thomas Bach a huge vote of thanks.' Bach departs with the IOC's finances in rude health. He has boasted of a '60 percent growth in revenues' during his dozen years at the helm. Payne says he has indeed increased revenues but the 67-year-old Irishman cautioned that 'with increasing revenues partners become more demanding,' adding 'just because you have contracts locked up does not mean you do not change and evolve.' Robertson praises Bach for handing over to Coventry an IOC 'in an extremely robust financial position.' He added the policy of locking sponsors into long-term deals 'gave the IOC financial certainty at an exceptionally difficult time and we are seeing the benefit of that now.' Burns for his part draws on an aphorism of a former US president. 'Ronald Reagan used to say are you better off today than you were four years ago? 'By any measure, Bach enriched the IOC coffers. 'In the end that is all that matters.' 'He will go down as one of the three great IOC presidents along with Pierre de Coubertin and Juan Antonio Samaranch.' — Payne 'A transformational president in unprecedented times.' — Burns 'Thomas Bach had the most difficult deck of cards to play of any IOC president. He has played them exceptionally well and left the IOC stronger than when he took over.'
