The Olympic flame that captivated the world at the Paris 2024 opening ceremony in a floating cauldron is not real but 100 percent electric, organizers have revealed.
The “fake” flame is created using 40 LED lights and water mist, meaning it is safe for anyone to touch.
Paris has set out to deliver the “greenest Olympic Games in history” using the traditional cauldron flame that normally relies on fossil fuels.
Tony Estanguet, head of the Paris 2024 organising committee, explained: ‘We wanted the cauldron to use new technology so as not to produce too many emissions.
“We were ambitious and wanted to combine something spectacular and environmental responsibility at the same time.”
Marie-Jose Perec and Teddy Riner light the Olympic flame during the opening ceremony of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games
The brazier, with the Olympic flame lit, is raised tied to a balloon.
The “fake” flame is created using 40 LED lights and water mist, meaning it is safe for anyone to touch.
The balloon takes off into the night sky over Paris on Friday evening.
Marie-Jose Perec and Teddy Riner before lighting the Olympic flame during the opening ceremony
French Olympic gold medallists Marie-José Pérec and Teddy Riner wowed the crowd at the opening ceremony on Friday night when they performed the traditional role of transferring the flame from the torch to the Olympic cauldron.
A ring of fire then propelled a hot air balloon into the night sky over Paris in a spectacular spectacle.
The move was a nod to the Montgolfier brothers, the French pioneers of hot air ballooning.
His first designs flew in 1783 in the same place as the Olympic flame in Paris 2024.
The “false” flame will remain lit for the duration of the Olympic Games and the balloon will remain on the ground in the Tuileries Garden during the day.
In the evening, the balloon will rise again into the air and remain about 30 metres above the French capital.
French designer Mathieu Lehanneur developed a new type of hot air balloon that carries a ring of fire.
He said: ‘This absolutely unique Cauldron represents the whole spirit I wanted to give to Olympic and Paralympic objects.
‘Light, magical and unifying, it will be a beacon in the night and a sun within reach during the day.
The brazier, with the Olympic flame lit, is raised tied to a balloon.
The move was a nod to the Montgolfier brothers, the French pioneers of hot air ballooning.
Former French footballer Zinedine Zidane carries the Olympic flame in front of athletes
Paris has set out to deliver the “greenest Olympic Games in history” using the traditional cauldron flame that normally relies on fossil fuels.
Emma Terho, President of the IOC Athletes’ Commission, and Thomas Bach, President of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), carry the Olympic flame on 26 July
The cauldron with the Olympic flame waves above La Concorde during the opening ceremony
Marie-Jose Perec and Teddy Riner before lighting the Olympic flame during the opening ceremony of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games
The brazier, with the Olympic flame lit, is raised tied to a balloon.
French Paralympic athlete Marie-Amelie Le Fur holds the Olympic flame
A torchbearer carries the Olympic flame over a building along the River Seine during the opening ceremony.
The brazier, with the Olympic flame lit, is raised tied to a balloon.
Marie-Jose Perec and Teddy Riner before lighting the Olympic flame during the opening ceremony of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games
‘The fire that will burn in it will be made of light and water, like a cool oasis in the heart of summer.’
The use of a “fake flame” in the cauldron comes after the Paris 2024 Olympic torch was lit in ancient Olympia in a traditional ceremony.
Months before each game, the flame is lit at the site of the ancient Olympic Games in Greece using sunlight and a parabolic mirror.
This year, however, Greek actress Mary Mina, who plays the role of the high priestess, lit the torch using a spare flame due to overcast skies for the start of a relay in Greece and France.
The flame is then carried by torches in a relay until it reaches the site of the opening ceremony, where a cauldron is lit.
The cauldron will remain lit throughout the Games until it is extinguished at the closing ceremony.
Paris 2024 organisers have defended the use of a “fake” flame, saying its use is largely symbolic.
A spokesman for the Games said The TelegraphFor the Olympic movement, the only thing that matters is the symbol of a Flame that is not extinguished before the end of the Games.
‘This flame is the authentic Olympic flame, following the Olympic torch lighting ceremony and the Olympic torch relay throughout France.
‘Given the specificity of our cauldron and the technologies involved, we will keep a lit lantern in the vicinity of the cauldron so that the public can admire it.’
This is not the first time that the use of a real flame has been questioned.
At the 1976 Olympics, the flame was transformed into a radio signal and transmitted to Ottawa.