The mascots for Paris 2024 have been revealed with President Tony Estanguet saying the designs represent the "adventure" of the organising committee.
The Olympic Phryge and the Paralympic Phryge - Las Phyrges - were unveiled at an official presentation in Saint-Denis. Phrygian caps are known to represent freedom and the pursuit of liberty in the country, and were associated with the French Revolution.
Furthermore, full-size Phryges will be ambassadors of the Paris 2024 Games – and will tour the nation in order to promote the event. Julie Matikhine, a brand manager of Paris 2024, said via Eurosport : "We looked for meaning, that the mascots have something to say. Before the form, the substance.
“It is a mascot who embodies the French spirit. An ideal that carries the values of our country, a part of our history and a singular point of view on the world."
Two features of the mascots have been targeted to stand out, the eyes and the mouth. The eyes were designed to be expressive, and each expression of the mouth is supposed to be a true reflection of the Phryges personality.
Tony Estanguet, triple Olympic canoeing champion and Paris 2024 President, said that organisers asked themselves a big question before they embarked on creating the two mascots. "How can we be different?" he said, via insidethegames.
"We wanted to embody in a physical manner the adventure upon which we are embarked. We are very excited to be unveiling the mascot and also to see your reactions. We asked ourselves - how can we put things on their head? How can we be different?"
Estanguet, 44, said that organisers had wanted to move away from the tradition of an animal based mascot, whilst also symbolising the nation: "The word revolution is part of the French identity, and we want these Games to have that identity," he added. "Phyrgian Cap is a symbol of freedom, of liberty, which means we want to make this a very French idea."
The Games get underway on July 26, 2024. It will be the first time in 100 years that the event has taken place in France, and only the third time in history after 1900 and 1924.
