Following the conclusion of the 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games in the city, Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo has announced that the Olympic Rings will remain on the Eiffel Tower until at least 2028. However, her decision is already being met with backlash and challenges from the descendants of the tower’s original engineer Gustave Eiffel.
Hidalgo announced her decision following the conclusion of the Olympic Games, stating that the rings will remain on the iconic landmark to celebrate the success of the Games and the changes they brought to the city.
“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,” Hidalgo told reporters following the announcement.
“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.”
The Olympic Rings that are currently on the tower will not be the same ones that remain there, as they are not intended to be permanent. Instead, they will be replaced with a lighter, more durable version intended for long-term use.
According to Hidalgo, the International Olympic Committee has approved of the decision to keep the rings on the landmark, but others are not happy with them remaining on the tower. Descendants of Gustave Eiffel, the Eiffel Tower’s original engineer, are calling for the rings to be removed from the structure, citing that they “oppose any alteration that negatively impacts respect for the work” of Eiffel.
In a statement issued by Eiffel’s descendants, they stated that the rings would interfere with Eiffel’s original concept for the tower due to the fact that the symbol is “colorful, large in size, placed on the main avenue of approach to the tower (and) creates a strong imbalance (in the tower’s shape), substantially modifying the very pure forms of the monument.”
They also argued that keeping the rings on the tower long-term would oppose “the neutrality and meaning acquired over the years by the Eiffel Tower, which has become the symbol of the city of Paris and even all of France across the world.”
Even when the Games are over, the Paris organizers somehow find a way to create drama… what a wreck of an event
deleted