Paris mayor seeks to keep Eiffel Tower Olympic rings

Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo on Monday said the Olympic rings mounted on the Eiffel Tower should be kept permanently in the city.

"There are three symbols that we have to deal with so that they can be preserved as heritage," Hidalgo told the France Bleu radio station, listing the Eiffel Tower rings first.

Hidalgo then mentioned the cauldron holding the Olympic flame. The cauldron sits beneath a giant balloon in the Tuileries Garden. Each night the flame is lifted above the ground.

The mayor also wants to install the statues of female trailblazers first revealed during the opening ceremony in the city after the Games.

"I've been thinking for a long time that they would be in good hands in Paris, especially in the 18th arrondissement. These three beautiful symbolic works of art deserve our full attention," she said.

International Olympic Committee (IOC) spokesman Mark Adams said the organizers would be delighted for Paris to keep the rings, adding that the decision was in Hidalgo's hands.

The five intertwined rings, which are a total of 29 metres wide and 15 metres high, are mounted at a height of 60 metres between the first and second floors on the side of the Eiffel Tower facing the Seine. Each of the rings has a diameter of 9 metres.