PARIS -- The Paris Olympics organizers on Friday unveiled a display of the five Olympic rings mounted on the Eiffel Tower as the French capital marks 50 days until the start of the Summer Games.
The structure of rings, made of recycled French steel, will be displayed on the south side of the 135-year-old landmark in central Paris, overlooking the Seine River. Each ring is 9 meters (30 feet) in diameter.
Thousands of athletes will parade through the heart of the French capital on boats on the Seine along a 6-kilometer (3.7-mile) route in the opening ceremony at sunset on July 26.
There will be no shortage of iconic venues at the Paris Olympics.
The tower, nicknamed La Dame de Fer (The Iron Lady), will feature prominently in the July 26-Aug. 11 Paris Games and the following Paralympics.
Men's and women's volleyball players will compete at the foot of the 330-meter (1,083-foot) monument. They will be watched by nearly 13,000 fans at the temporary Eiffel Tower Stadium on the nearby Champ de Mars, where Parisians and tourists like to have picnics on the grass or watch July 14 firework displays.
The Olympic and Paralympic medals in Paris are being embedded with pieces from a hexagonal chunk of iron taken from the tower.
The hugely popular landmark in central Paris has seen soaring visitor numbers in the leadup to the 2024 Games.
Two huge cranes were used overnight Friday to lift the 30-ton structure and mount it between the first and second floors of the tower.
The Olympic rings will be illuminated every night with 100,000 LED bulbs through the Paralympic Games that start Aug. 28, 17 days after the Olympics' closing ceremony.
The Paralympics will bring together 4,400 athletes from 180 countries in 549 events and 22 sports. Many sports will take place near landmarks including the Eiffel Tower, Versailles and the Grand Palais.
