Eiffel's descendants call for Olympic rings to be moved to LA

Olympic Rings on the Eiffel Tower taken from France Televisions set in Trocadero, during the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, in Paris, on July 31, 2024. The Paris mayor's plan to preserve the "historic moment" of the Olympic and Paralympic Games has raised an outcry from heritage conservationists and opponents of Anne Hidalgo. AFP - STEPHANE DE SAKUTIN

The descendants of Gustave Eiffel – who are opposed to maintaining the Olympic rings on the Eiffel Tower until at least 2028 as the Mayor of Paris wishes – have proposed that the City could ‘symbolically transfer’ them to Los Angeles between now and the end of 2024.

In a press release issued on Sunday, the Association of Descendants of Gustave Eiffel (Adge) reaffirmed its "unfavourable position" to the "definitive perpetuation of the rings ... beyond the Olympic year 2024, with no clear date announced for their removal".

On Friday, Paris mayor Anne Hidalgo reiterated her wish to see the rings attached to the famous tower, which belongs to the city, remain on the iconic monument until the Los Angeles Olympics in 2028, "and even beyond".

This position, already expressed shortly after the opening of the Games and reaffirmed a week ago, triggered an outcry from heritage defenders and opponents of the Socialist mayor.

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descendants of the famous engineer

"As the heirs of Gustave Eiffel, the members of Adge ... may be led to oppose any alteration that would undermine respect for the work of their ancestor," they said, explaining that they had consulted a law firm.

Olympic 'imbalance'

In their view, hanging the Olympic rings "substantially alters both the visual and symbolic aspects of the Eiffel Tower".

"Coloured, large and placed in the main access axis to the Tower, creating a strong imbalance, the rings substantially alter the very pure forms of the monument", they added.

The presence of the rings on the Tower beyond the duration of the Games also contradicts "the neutrality and meaning acquired over the years by the Eiffel Tower, which has become the symbol of the city of Paris and indeed of the whole of France throughout the world," they argue, adding that there is "no prior thematic or historical link between the Tower and the Games".

Saying that they were at the mayor's disposal for discussions, they in turn have proposed that the City of Paris "after having passed on the Olympic flame to the City of Los Angeles ... could symbolically pass on the Olympic rings to Los Angeles by the end of 2024, which marks the end of the Olympic year".

"We are very happy that the rings have been associated with the Eiffel Tower for the duration of the Olympic Games," the explained on Sunday, while reaffirming their opposition to the project.