PARIS (AP) — The Olympic cauldron that made a stunning first flight at the Paris Games opening ceremony will sit on the ground during the day and rise again every evening.
Paris Olympics organizers said that from Saturday, the cauldron attached to a balloon will fly more than 60 meters (197 feet) above the Tuileries gardens from sunset until 2 a.m. The launch zone site is near the glass pyramid entrance to the Louvre museum .
During daytime hours, 10,000 people each day can get free tickets to approach the cauldron, which is the first in Olympic history to light up without the use of fossil fuels.
Instead, it uses water and electric light.
Organizers said the electric flame uses 40 LED spotlights “to illuminate the cloud created by 200 high-pressure misting nozzles.”
The cauldron is a key showcase of organizers’ ambition for a low-carbon Olympics cutting emissions in half and “one of the main symbols of the games,” Paris organizing chief Tony Estanguet said.
“We wanted the cauldron to use a new technology in order to not produce too many emissions,” Estanguet said Saturday. “We were ambitious and we wanted to bring together something spectacular and environmental responsibility at the same time.”
The Summer Games cauldron in the Tuileries also will stay to be used for the Paralympic Games that Paris will host from Aug. 28 to Sept. 8.
