Yesterday, April 16, the countdown began for the start of the 2024 Olympics. At the archaeological site of Olympia, with a ceremony featuring Greek actress Mary Mina impersonating the high priestess, the Olympic torch was lit and began its journey, which will end in Paris on July 26 with the lighting of the Olympic cauldron. Tokyo Olympic rowing champion Stefanos Ntouskos was the first to carry the torch, followed by swimmer Laure Manaudou. But how is an Olympic torch created? Who makes it and what does it represent?
As was the case with the official poster, the Olympic committee also turned to a French designer, Mathieu Lehanneur, giving him the task of combining the three themes of this year’s Olympics into a single object.
The first is equality, a fundamental value not only in competition but also in the organization of the Games. It is no coincidence that for the 2024 edition, the Olympic and Paralympic Games share the same emblem, mascots, and torch design. Equality is also reflected in the number of participants; we will see the same number of male and female athletes competing. Mathieu Lehanneur has decided to represent this value with perfect symmetry between the upper and lower parts of the torch.
Then we have water, which will have a special place at the 2024 Paris Games. To reach the city center, in fact, the torch, which started yesterday from Olympia, will travel through the Mediterranean Sea aboard the Belem, passing through the Atlantic, Pacific, and Indian Oceans. Water is also a symbol of the French capital, which could not be what it is without the Seine River that cuts it in half. Water is reflected in the small waves present on the torch and in the reflections created on its shiny surface made of steel from the leading company in the sector, ArcelorMittal.
Finally, we have serenity. Since ancient times, the period of the Olympics imposed a truce on peoples from all kinds of conflicts. The need and importance of serenity – and a ceasefire – between states and peoples is more important today than ever. Mathieu Lehanneur chose to create a torch without edges, characterized only by curved and rounded lines.
Lehanneur commented on the unique opportunity to create the Olympic torch in this way: «Designing the Olympic torch is a designer’s dream: a dream that only comes true once in a lifetime, like a miraculous encounter with History. As ritualistic as it is magical, the torch is a mythical object. As a symbol of cohesion and sharing, it is the veritable key to opening the Games. It will cross thousands of kilometers, passed from hand to hand, over land and sea. For Paris 2024, and for the first time in its history, it will play with perfect symmetry to better express a message of equality. I wanted it to be extremely pure, iconic, and almost essential. Simple like a hyphen and fluid like a flame».
