28 July 2023
Olympic Games organizers in France presented the 2024 Olympic torch that will light the Summer Games in the country a year from now. In the Olympic torch tradition, many people carry the torch in turn from Greece to the current location of the Games. After it has traveled thousands of kilometers, the torch will light the Olympic cauldron at the Opening Ceremony of the next Olympic Games.
French designer Mathieu Lehanneur created the torch, which is 70 centimeters long and made of lightweight steel. Lehanneur said its shape is inspired by the famous Seine river, which flows through Paris. He said the torch is equal from top to bottom and all around the middle, which stands for equality between athletes. The twisting shape of the torch represents peace.
The torch was made with lightweight steel. Its lower half copies the movement of the Seine, along which the opening ceremony will take place for over 500,000 viewers.
Lehanneur said he wants the torch to represent the kind of event that Paris 2024 hopes to be. "I wanted to move away from the torch appearing as an object of conquest," Lehanneur said.
He also told reporters that designing the torch was much more technical than he thought it would be. "The magic is not the torch itself, but the flame," Lehanneur said.
The torch will begin burning in Olympia, Greece, where the first Olympics were held, on April 16. The Games will begin in Paris on July 26, 2024.
On May 8, the torch will arrive in the Mediterranean city of Marseille. It will then pass through several important places, which include Strasbourg, the Pantheon in Paris, the Mont Saint-Michel and multiple French territories.
Tony Estanguet, the Paris 2024 chief, said the torch is "very, very beautiful." He also said it is "...very pure. It's perfectly balanced in the hand."
I'm Dominic Varela. And I'm Jill Robbins.
Reuters reported this story. Dominic Varela adapted the report for VOA Learning English.
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Words in This Story
torch – n. a long stick with burning material at one end, used to provide light or to set things on fire
cauldron – n. a large pot
athlete – n. a person who does a sport, especially athletics, or track and field events.
conquest – n. the act of conquering a country or group of people
flame – n. a hot bright stream of burning gas that comes from something that is burning