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Many fans have been left outraged after learning the Paris Olympics’ flame is nothing more than a bunch of LED lights and not actually created by fire.
That’s right. The Olympic “cauldron” is fueled by… electricity.
Sure, it looked like it was a real flame when French Olympic gold medalists Marie-Jose Perec and Teddy Riner “lit” the Olympic cauldron with their torches (which were real flames), but all that really happened was someone flipped a switch and turned on the lights.
Greek City Times reports: “The base ring features 40 LED lights that illuminate a cloud of water vapor created by 200 high-pressure misting nozzles, replicating the appearance and flicker of real flames.”
Paris 2024 partner EDF supplies the electricity and water, powering the cauldron from the ground. Luc Rémont, Chairman and CEO of EDF, praised this “electric revolution,” marking the first time an Olympic flame has been entirely electric. This innovation has been achieved through the combined efforts of EDF and Lehanneur’s team.
The author of the Greek City Times article also asked, “Is this high-tech marvel a fitting evolution of the Olympic flame, or does it risk overshadowing the traditional symbolism of a real, burning flame?”
If you ask a bunch of people on social media, it appears that most of them believe it is the latter.
Fake Olympic flame 🔥 🤦🏻
Everything about the Paris Olympics is woke and naff! #OlympicShite https://t.co/sxeTIlkbnf— Christian La’Moy (@Goosedancer) July 29, 2024
“I appreciated the ‘look’ that the balloon created – by it being somewhat reflective, the fake flame underneath lights it up so it has the classic look of a cauldron,” another fan commented. “THAT BEING SAID not even carrying a flame makes it the worst Olympic cauldron of all time.”
“I find it sad that it isn’t even a flame,” read another comment. “Total disrespect to the Olympic history,”
So, Olympic flame has be given with highest respect as it is received in Olympia, by ritual old 1000s years, but in Paris the flame isn't burning, they use some led technology lights blah blah, for wannabe ecologically correct.
😂😂😂
Hey #Paris2024, you are broken cartoon— •• 𝓐 •• (@8thSmile) July 28, 2024
According to a New York Times report on the Paris Olympics flame, the press office for the Paris Games wrote in an email that the electric flame should be considered the “true Olympic flame.”
“For the Olympic movement, only the symbol of a flame that does not go out before the end of the Games matters,” the press office said.
However, they also added, “Given the specificity of our cauldron and the technologies involved, we will still keep a lit lantern in the immediate vicinity of the cauldron for the public to admire.”
And they are.
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“Lit in Olympia, from the sun’s rays,” a sign affixed to the display reads.