Did they just send the Olympic cauldron into the sky in a hot air balloon? Is the cauldron a hot air balloon? Is it just going to stay up there for two weeks? If you watched the opening ceremony of the Paris Olympics on Friday, you might have these questions and more.
Long story short, the cauldron sits on the ground during the day, but every evening at sunset it is blown into the air by a balloon. However, it remains attached to the ground.
The cauldron is 30 meters (98 feet) tall with a fire ring 7 meters (22 feet) in diameter. It flies 60 meters (196 feet) above the ground from sunset until 2 am. “Flying” isn’t quite right, because it will still be tethered to the ground, but it will be in the air. And the balloon itself is not a traditional hot air balloon, although it looks like one. The flame is 100% electric.
Normally, the cauldron is lit while it is on the ground in the main Olympic stadium, and it remains there, with a bright flame, for the duration of the Games. But the ceremony in Paris was different in many ways. Athletes did not march into a stadium, but rather sailed in boats down the Seine. So there was no large stadium where the ceremony ended and where a cauldron could be placed and lit.
Instead, a number of different athletes, some French, some from other countries, including the US, passed the Olympic flame from athlete to athlete until it reached the Jardin des Tuileries, near the famous Louvre Museum. The Games then paid tribute to the historic French history of the hot air balloon. The very first hot air balloon flight took place in Paris in 1783 from this spot, with a more powerful balloon making the same flight days later from the same spot. A century later, in 1878, French engineer Henri Giffard invented the “captive balloon,” consisting of a gas balloon and a steam winch.
“The lighting of the Cauldron is always a highlight of the Games, as it signals the start of the Games,” said Tony Estanguet, President of Paris 2024. in a statement“With a Flying Cauldron, we wanted to pay tribute to the spirit of daring, creativity, innovation — and sometimes madness! — of France, which is at the heart of the DNA of Paris 2024.”
The 100% electric flame burns no fuel. The ring of fire uses 40 LED spotlights to illuminate the cloud created by 200 high-pressure mist nozzles.
“Thanks to an innovation by EDF (the French public electricity company), the Cauldron of Paris 2024 will shine for the first time with a 100% electric flame,” said Luc Rémont, Chairman and CEO of EDF. “This ‘electric revolution’ was made possible thanks to the monumental work of our teams and designer Mathieu Lehanneur. Their creativity and innovative strength made it possible to design a flame without the combustion of fossil fuels, a flame made of water and light. The future is electric and the EDF teams are proud to have made history by helping to make Paris 2024 a more sustainable and responsible Games.”
The Olympic Games in Paris will last until August 11.
