Few sounds convey as much solemnity as that of a bell. This ancient instrument has been used to transmit information of interest, to announce an important event, deaths or rites. A source of information and emotions, they occupy the tops of town halls, hermitages and churches, mainly after being adopted by Christianity in the 5th century. Their roars carved in bronze gather the faithful and make the doves fly, although in these Paris Games they also make more than one athlete run. The organizers of the Olympic Games have installed one in the glorious Stade de France and it has become an icon of greatness. Ringing it is an honor “only for gold medalists,” explained Tony Estanguet, head of the Paris 2024 organizing committee, who has defined this element to the Associated Press as an opportunity to connect athletes and spectators.
The bell will also remain in place during the Paralympic Games, before finally being hung in one of the towers of Notre-Dame Cathedral, whose reconstruction is due to be completed this December, more than five years after the voracious fire that threatened to extinguish it. Notre-Dame has 10 church bells, weighing between two and three tonnes. It also has other sets of smaller bells in the spire, with the Olympic bell to be added. The new element of the Parisian temple was manufactured in Normandy by the Cornille Havard foundry, and bears engraved rings and the Paris 2024 emblem.
For now, it adorns the purple tartan of the legendary Stade de France, which has been the venue for the country’s most important sporting events for more than 20 years, since its construction for the 1998 World Cup. “No matter how loud the crowd is, people will hear it,” predicted the great sprinter Carl Lewis, who was in charge of testing the bell at the start of the competitions.
But before it was coveted by athletes, it was the rugby teams who started the tradition at the beginning of the Games, when the stadium hosted the tournament in that discipline. Without the condition of gold, the medalists could come to celebrate winning the medal and pose in front of the bell as an emblem of victory.
With the arrival of athletics, one of the first to do so was Noah Lyles, who was crowned the fastest man in the world, finishing the 100-meter sprint in 9.79 seconds. Julien Alfred also did so, the athlete who also won, in the 100 meters, the first medal in the Olympic history of Saint Lucia, a Caribbean island of 181,000 inhabitants.
When the Olympic hangover settles in Paris as normal in September, some spaces in the French capital will regain their traditional image. The sports facilities will remain as scars from the day when the eyes of the world were once again on France. And, a little later, when Notre-Dame returns to function as the quintessential Parisian cathedral, its bell towers will have an extra dose of history. The waves of each bell chime will carry the Olympic stench of those who won the gold and knew how to celebrate it.
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