‘Paris 2024 hoping for flame on Eiffel Tower’

Published May 23, 2023
Olympic rings to celebrate the IOC official announcement that Paris won the 2024 Olympic bid are seen in front of the Eiffel Tower at the Trocadero square in Paris, France on September 14, 2017. — Reuters
Olympic rings to celebrate the IOC official announcement that Paris won the 2024 Olympic bid are seen in front of the Eiffel Tower at the Trocadero square in Paris, France on September 14, 2017. — Reuters

PARIS: Paris 2024 organisers have been planning to install the Olympic flame on the Eiffel Tower, a source with direct knowledge of the matter told Reuters on Monday.

The source added that the flame would not be put at the top of the Eiffel Tower, for technical reasons, and it was not clear whether it would stay on the monument throughout the Games but the combination of two such iconic images would be a dramatic backdrop to the July 26-Aug 11 event.

“It’s been a work in progress for the last two years now,” the source said.

The flame cannot be at the top of the tower because of the antennas already installed there, they added.

“The venue for the lighting of the flame on the Opening Day of the Olympic Games has not yet been decided,” a Paris 2024 spokesperson told Reuters.

They did not deny working on installing the flame at the Eiffel Tower and would not disclose when any announcement would be made.

The flame will arrive in the port city of Marseille on May 8 by boat — the three-masted tall ship “Belem” — after a 10-day journey across the Mediterranean from Greece.

Published in Dawn, May 23rd, 2023

Opinion

Editorial

Window dressing
Updated 17 Jun, 2025

Window dressing

Meanwhile, the provinces lack the resources and expertise to implement adaptation measures effectively.
No revenue effort
17 Jun, 2025

No revenue effort

WITH the ruling PML-N’s next budget unfolding large infrastructure schemes, and expenditure focusing on service...
Pomp and circumstance
17 Jun, 2025

Pomp and circumstance

THE sight of columns of tanks rolling down a boulevard, accompanied by troops goose-stepping in lockstep, was a...
Close the gap
Updated 16 Jun, 2025

Close the gap

Our imbalanced scorecard in the main shows that power development and prosperity reflect the shallowness of political claims.
Fiscal malfeasance
16 Jun, 2025

Fiscal malfeasance

IT is galling that, even in these times of economic distress, when hardship has pushed millions of ordinary...
Rochdale conviction
16 Jun, 2025

Rochdale conviction

THE recent conviction of seven men in the Rochdale grooming gang case is a hard-won moment of justice. The men, ...