After the success of the 2024 Olympic Games, the city of Paris intends to keep the Olympic rings on the Eiffel Tower. “As mayor of Paris, the decision is mine and I have the agreement of the IOC. So yes, they will remain on the Eiffel Tower,” announced Anne Hidalgo on Saturday, August 31.
This Parisian decision contrasts with that taken in 2012 by London, which did not keep the symbol hanging at the top of the legendary Tower Bridge. The same goes for the rings displayed at the Saint-Pancras international station. With one difference, however: these were cut up to transform them into colored seats within the station, in order to recall that the London capital had hosted the Olympic Games for the third time in its history (after 1908 and 1948).
In Stratford, in the eastern suburbs of London, the rings are still present in the heart of the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, the name given to the Olympic park which was built for the 2012 Games.
Back in Atlanta
In the rest of the world, former Olympic venues have kept their rings. This is notably the case of the Olympic Stadium in Montreal (1976 Summer Olympics), the Whistler Park in Vancouver (2010 Winter Olympics) and the Arena da Amazônia in Manaus (2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro). The logo is also installed in Chamonix-Mont-Blanc, where the first Winter Olympics in history were celebrated in 1924.
There is also the case of Atlanta. In 2018, 22 years after the 1996 Summer Olympics, the rings were reinstalled in the American city. They were mounted in Centennial Park, where the Olympic Park used to be.
And then there is the case of the huge rings that adorned the Sydney Harbour Bridge in 2000. For logistical reasons, the Australian authorities had decided to store them in the small town of Goulburn. But the warehouse in which they were located was sold. That’s when, in 2015, the new owner decided to put the logo up for auction on eBay, as reported by the local press. A deal concluded for more than 21,000 Australian dollars.
- RMC Sport
