It was therefore an honour that we were entrusted by Paris 2024 to create the Spectacular that currently sits on the Eiffel Tower. Measuring 29 metres wide by 15 metres high, and positioned approximately 84 metres off the ground, in between the first and second floors of the Eiffel Tower, the Spectacular is an incredible feat of engineering both in terms of its manufacture and erection.

The Spectacular began its life as  scrap steel that was melted in an electric arc furnace powered by renewable electricity at our site in Châteauneuf before being pre-rolled at our Le Creusot site and then rolled further in ArcelorMittal Dunkerque, one of Europe’s largest steelmaking sites. The XCarb® recycled and renewably produced steels was then delivered to a workshop near Épinal in the Vosges region, where it was cut, bent and welded and then painted according to the Olympic colour specifications.

In mid-May, in a secret location in eastern France the interlocking rings were raised by crane to 15 metres high and the sophisticated lighting system that enables them to appear in their five colours by day, and in bright white at night, was successfully tested.

This of course was just a prelude to the images that have now been seen across the world. In the early hours of 7 June, the Spectacular was lifted into position on the Eiffel Tower, secured using 10 high-strength cables manufactured, measured and pre-tensioned by ArcelorMittal at Bourg-en-Bresse, where it will sit for the duration of the Paris 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games: our low-carbon emissions steel proudly on display, on the world’s greatest sporting stage.