Paris will keep Olympic rings on Eiffel Tower after the Games departs France

The mayor of Paris has sparked controversy among locals with her proposal for the Eiffel Tower in the weeks after the Olympic Games.

Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo has sparked controversy with her proposal to keep the Olympic rings on the Eiffel Tower even after the summer Games.

In a weekend interview with Ouest-France, Hidalgo said the iconic landmark will be keeping the rings.

“The decision is up to me, and I have the agreement of the IOC [International Olympic Committee]. So yes, they [the rings] will stay on the Eiffel Tower.”

The giant Olympic rings, measuring 29 meters (95 feet) wide and 15 meters high, were installed on the Eiffel Tower ahead of the Paris Olympics, which began on July 26.

Initially, the plan was to take them down following the Paralympics’ closing ceremony on September 8.

However, Hidalgo is pushing to keep them in place permanently, albeit in a lighter version, replacing the current 30-tonne structure.

But the idea has stirred mixed reactions from Parisians.

While some are embracing the move, others, particularly heritage campaigners, believe the rings would “defile” the iconic monument.

“The Eiffel Tower is very beautiful, the rings add colour. It’s very nice to see it like this,” a young woman named Solène said via the publication France Bleu.

But, Manon, another local, was furious.

Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo has sparked controversy with her proposal to keep the Olympic rings on the Eiffel Tower even after the summer Games.

“It’s a historic monument, why defile it with rings? It was good for the Olympics, but now it’s over, we can move on. Maybe we should remove them and return the Eiffel Tower to how it was before,” Manon said via the French outlet.

Social media was also flooded with criticism aimed at the Paris mayor, with user Christophe Robin suggesting Hidalgo should have consulted Parisians before making such a significant decision.

Robin said it isn’t the first time the Eiffel Tower has been sold out to promote commercial symbols. From 1925 to 1936, the tower famously featured a massive Citroën advert.

The iconic tourist attraction, constructed in 1889 for the World’s Fair, has a history of stirring debate. Initially criticised by Parisian artists and intellectuals as a blight on the face of Paris, it has now become the undeniable symbol of the “City of Light”.

Hidalgo, known for her bold reforms, is no stranger to controversy.

The moon rises behind the Olympic rings displayed on the Eiffel Tower in Paris.

The rings are there to stay.

Since taking office in 2014, she has spearheaded initiatives like pedestrianising the banks of the Seine and banning electric scooters, though the latter was supported by only 8 per cent of eligible voters in a city referendum.

Another of her reforms, a sharp rise in parking fees for SUVs, attracted both praise and pushback from locals.

While France’s environmentalists cheered, some argued the classification unfairly affected many family-sized cars. France’s Environment Minister Christophe Béchu even dubbed the policy “punitive environmentalism”.

Hidalgo’s efforts to make Paris more environmentally friendly were on full display just before the Olympics, when she and other officials took a dip in the Seine to prove its cleanliness.

But we all know what happened there.

Heavy rains during the Games forced delays in several triathlon events, and poor water quality postponed Para-triathlon races scheduled for September 1.

Some athletes fell ill after swimming laps in the famously dirty river, casting an unfortunate shadow over an otherwise successful event.

But despite all the hiccups, Hidalgo is adamant that the rings should remain as a reminder of Paris’ role as host to the historic 2024 Games.

She also believes the people of Paris have rekindled their love for the city during the festivities.