The Stade de France has transformed from a rugby stadium into the home of all the track and field events at the Olympics. One thing that remained the same for the very different sports and their respective setups: the large bell at the one end of the field.
The bell is part of the refurbishment of the famous Notre Dame Cathedral. It is engraved with the Paris 2024 emblem and will be suspended in one of the cathedral’s bell towers after the Games. It is part of the legacy project for the Games, with the idea that the sound of Olympic victory will be heard for decades to come.
"In a way, Paris 2024 is helping to rebuild Notre-Dame. A part of the Games and the Olympic spirit will remain in Notre-Dame for life," confirms Pierre-André Lacout, a manager at the Stade de France.
During the rugby tournament, the bell became a photo staple with winners of each match. The French men rang the bell after they captured gold in the men’s tournament in front of the near-70,000 fans in attendance. The American women posed with the bell after their bronze medal win and had their own chance to make the bell chime.
The tradition will continue with track athletes, but only gold medal winners will have a chance to ring the bell.
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The bell was made in Normandy, at the Fonderie Cornille Havard in Villedieu-les-Poeles-Rouffigny. The Notre Dame has 10 church bells, larger historic bells that typically weigh between two and three tons. In addition to the main bells, the cathedral typically has other smaller bells in the spire and within the roof that was destroyed in the devastating fire of April 2019. The Olympic bell will join the other smaller bells once the spire is repaired.
The Notre Dame Cathedral has been under repair since the fire that burned down most, but not all, of the historic building. The bells of Notre Dame have only rung twice since the fire, once for the funeral of former French President Jacques Chirac and on April 15, 2020, to mark the first anniversary of the fire. Typically, the bells ring on the hour between 8 a.m. and 9 p.m. every day.
