After the Stade de France, she will settle permanently at Notre-Dame
As the athletics events continue at the Stade de France, a new initiative has been announced: the bell, rung for each Olympic athlete’s victory, will be returned to Notre-Dame Cathedral in Paris after the Games.
The success of the Paris Olympics gives hope that a lasting legacy, anchored in the history of France, will be visible after the event. While it was a question of preserving the Olympic cauldron, currently in the Tuileries, another symbolic object of the Games is sure to keep its place in French cultural heritage: the Olympic bell will find its definitive place in the cathedral of Notre-Dame de Paris.
The bronze bell, weighing an impressive 500 kg, will be installed in one of the towers of the Gothic cathedral after the end of the Olympic and Paralympic Games. It will join the other historic bells, some of which date back to the Middle Ages.
Engraved with the Paris 2024 emblem, the bell will help preserve part of the Olympic spirit in the heart of Paris, in one of its most emblematic monuments. “Thus, the sound of Olympic victory will be heard in the city for decades to come,” enthuses the Paris 2024 organizing committee on its website.
From rugby to athletics, a bell that celebrates victory
Visible at the Stade de France, its crucial role during the Olympic Games was strongly marked by spectators and television viewers. But also by the athletes who make it an essential photo spot! It was rung for the first time on Saturday, July 27, after the victory of Antoine Dupont’s Blues in rugby 7s. Since then, it has been regularly operated by athletes to celebrate their sporting victory.
At the moment, it is athletics that is ringing the bell throughout the Stade de France, notably during the victory of the American Noah Lyles in the main event of the Olympic Games, on Sunday August 4: the men’s 100m.
A strong link between the sporting world and French cultural heritage
Still under construction since the fire in April 2019, the choice of Notre-Dame as the final destination of the bell is not insignificant. The new bell fits perfectly into the process of rebirth of the monument. “Paris 2024 contributes, in a certain way, to the reconstruction of Notre-Dame. Part of the Games and the Olympic spirit will remain for life at Notre-Dame”, assures Pierre-André Lacout, Cluster Manager at the Stade de France, on the Paris 2024 website.
The Olympic bell was custom-made by the Cornille Havard foundry, located in Villedieu-les-Poëles (Manche). This is the same company that restored the prestigious bells of Notre-Dame de Paris.
To hear it ring again, after the Olympic and Paralympic Games, head to Notre-Dame de Paris, starting on December 8, during the long-awaited reopening of the cathedral.
