PARIS — The Phrygian cap, the symbol of the
French republic but wearing sneakers as a nod to the present, was unveiled on Monday
as the mascot for the
2024 Paris Olympics.
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The Paralympic mascot is different in that one of
the legs is a runner’s blade.
Tony Estanguet, president of the Paris 2024
organizing committee, hailed it as a “special day”.
The 44-year-old triple Olympic canoeing champion
said the Phrygian cap is “known throughout the world” and is present “in art,
in town halls, and on stamps”.
The Paris Games organizers defended the fact that
the toy replicas of the mascot are almost all made in
China, “like the great majority
of toys sold in France”.
In choosing the cap which adorns the head of
Marianne, the personification of the French Revolution, the organizing
committee has once again recalled Republican and revolution-era history.
For example, the marathon route is the one French
women took to Versailles from Paris on October 5, 1789, to protest over
principally the rising price of bread.
“We want the mascots to incarnate the French
spirit,” the committee said.
One of the mascot’s eyes is blue, and one of the two
is draped in two ribbons in the colors of the French flag, in the style of a
cockade, or knot of ribbons, which was another symbol of republicanism during
the Revolution.
No figures were given for the number of toy replicas
that have been manufactured but they are expected to make up “between 20
percent and 25 percent” of merchandising revenue.
In all, merchandising revenues are expected to bring
in 127 million euros ($131 million), according to budget projections already
provided by the organizing committee.
However, a revised budget is due to be issued
between now and the end of December to prune costs as the organizers’ financial
plans have been affected by inflation.
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