Paris reveals 2024 Olympics logo
PARIS (AFP) — The logo for the 2024 Olympics and Paralympics, depicting the Olympic flame within a gold medal, was unveiled in host city Paris on Monday.
The circular design with Paris 2024 in the art deco style which was in vogue in 1924 when Paris last hosted the Games, also incorporates the lips and outline of Marianne, the personification of the French Republic since the revolution in 1789.
“It is made up of three symbols, both simple and powerful,” the organizers said in a statement.
“The gold medal, symbol of sport. The flame, icon of the Olympic and Paralympic movement. Marianne, image of France.
“These symbols reveal a face that embodies our ambition to put people at the heart of the Games.”
The golden Marianne marks a break from the colorful Eiffel Tower ‘24’ logo used for the bid campaign. Organizers called it “a new phase” in the project where the objective was no longer the bid but the promotion of the Games themselves to the public and potential sponsors.
“For the first time in the history of the Games, our emblem will be common to the Olympic Games and Paralympic Games,” said organizers.
“Because we are taking on both challenges with the same passion, the same determination, the same ambition.
The sky’s the limit for Mikaela Shiffrin after winning a record 17 World Cup races last season.
And not just because she reached lofty heights as a passenger in an F-16 jet with the Air Force’s Thunderbirds this offseason, either.
The 24-year-old ski racer from Colorado isn’t saying she can replicate that kind of success on the slopes again.
She’s not saying she can’t, either. Shiffrin is thinking big as she heads into a season where she will be counted on to carry her sport even more with the retirements of stars like Lindsey Vonn , Marcel Hirscher and Aksel Lund Svindal.
Although, Shiffrin doesn’t view it as pressure so much as an opportunity — for her and others.
“We really have a lot of great athletes, great personalities,” Shiffrin said as the World Cup season gets set to open Saturday with the women’s giant slalom race in Soelden, Austria. “Some of the other women, some of the other men, they are going to be excited that they can be stars.”
Make no mistake: The threetime overall World Cup winner is the undisputed face of the sport with Vonn and Svindal announcing their retirements a while back, and
Hirscher revealing his decision to step away last month after winning eight overall titles. He captured 67 of his 245 World Cup races, trailing only Ingemar Stenmark (86) and Vonn (82) on the all-time list.
“I do feel like all of these retirements have definitely sort of rocked the boat a bit in the ski-racing world,” said Shiffrin, who’s won 60 World Cup races in 157 starts. “For me, Marcel’s retirement, so far that’s one of the most impactful … I’ve really, really looked up to him and been inspired by his skiing for so long.”
She plans to sprinkle in a few more speed events this season since there are no Olympics or world championships. It’s a way to test her limits.
“But I’m going to take the same mindset of listening to my body and see how it’s feeling,” the two-time Olympic champion said.
It’s an approach that served her well last season. A quick recap:
— With her first super-G victory at Lake Louise last December, Shiffrin became the first athlete in FIS World Cup history to win in all six disciplines.
— Earned her fourth-straight slalom title at the world championships in Are, Sweden.
— Finished with 17 World Cup wins to eclipse the mark for most in a season (14) that was held by Vreni Schneider. (AP)
For the 2019-20 season, she said she’s setting realistic goals because, “who in their right mind can expect to keep repeating that forever?” Shiffrin cracked of her recent success.
“I may be not always in my right mind so if anyone would expect that it would be me,” she added. “I talked a lot last year about not really paying attention to expectations and sort of knowing there’s a difference between expectations versus standards and trying to keep my standards of my own skiing high and not having expectations. For whatever reason, that mindset clicked for me last year.” So, she will keep that tactic. “How do I out-do myself?” Shiffrin said. “Every year is different. You don’t know who worked harder and got better. (AP)