Sleek and shiny torch for Paris Olympics unveiled with carbon footprint in mind and a year to go

PARIS –

The torch that will be used to carry the Olympic flame around France and on its final leg at the opening ceremony of the 2024 Paris Games next July is a sleek silver-colored cylinder of recycled steel that is gracefully tapered at both ends and is being made in limited numbers to save resources.

Paris organizers unveiled French designer Mathieu Lehanneur’s torch design Tuesday — part of a week of activities that mark the year-to-go countdown to the July 26 opening.

Organizers said 2,000 torches — five times fewer than for some previous editions of the Olympics — are being produced from recycled steel.

Each one weighs 1.5 kilograms (3.3 pounds) and is 70 centimetres (27.5 inches) tall.

Paris is using the same torch design for both the Olympics and Paralympic Games.

Once lit in Ancient Olympia, Greece, the flame will be transported by boat to the southern French city of Marseille.

The torch relay will start from there on May 8, with 10,000 torchbearers taking turns to carry it — the last of them lighting the cauldron at the opening ceremony.