The Paris 2024 Olympic Torch: it all started with Additive Manufacturing

The Paris 2024 Olympic Torch: it all started with Additive Manufacturing

Paris 2024 had set the framework in which we had to work – prioritising sustainability alongside a bold ambition to halve the carbon footprint of the Games. We wanted to build on that and showcase our steel in the most spectacular, innovative and sustainable way.

The 2024 Paris Olympic and Paralympic Games are very special to ArcelorMittal, because our XCarb® steel is playing a prominent and beautiful role. The torches designed by Mathieu Lehanneur, the Olympic “Spectacular” Rings and the Paralympic “Agitos” shining from the Eiffel Tower and Arc de Triomphe respectively, are all made using our sustainable steel.

In the opening ceremony, you will have heard a wonderful performance by Celine Dion while seeing the Olympic rings light up the night sky. And you will have seen the torch passed from one sporting icon to another, including Zinedine Zidane, Rafael Nadal and Amélie Mauresmo. The torch’s journey, carrying the Olympic flame from Athens to Paris, ended with Marie-José Pérec and Teddy Riner lighting the cauldron which took off into the Paris sky.

What was kept quiet, until now, is that the very first prototypes of the Olympic torch were made by laser powder bed fusion, in ArcelorMittal Global R&D’s Additive Manufacturing labs and using ArcelorMittal Powders’ AdamIQ™ 316L powder.

These initial prototypes allowed early tests, including confidential runs, to confirm weight and handling of the torch. And they were used to optimise the manufacturing operations, especially the crucial integration of the gas burner.

ArcelorMittal Powders and ArcelorMittal Global R&D Additive Manufacturing labs are proud to have played even a minor part in the creation of the beautiful work of art that the 2024 Paris Olympic Torch surely is.

Steel manufactured entirely in France
The torches are manufactured from ArcelorMittal’s XCarb® recycled and renewably produced reduced carbon footprint steel. Together with select partners, ArcelorMittal has manufactured 2000 torches at sites including Châteauneuf, Florange and Woippy.