Luxembourgish steel and mining company ArcelorMittal has revealed that the symbolic cauldron of the Toronto 2015 Games opening ceremony, which took place on Friday 10 July 2015, was forged from ArcelorMittal steel.
The iconic symbol of the Pan Am/Parapan Am Games, the cauldron was reportedly created using ten different types of steel made at the Dofasco site of the company's Canadian branch. The production of the cauldron required eighteen months of advanced manufacturing, consultation from the community, and collaboration from artists, having been designed by Cirque du Soleil's creative team
The cauldron weighed almost fourteen tonnes and featured steel plate, hot roll sheet, Galvalume® (plain and pre-painted), cold-roll enamelling, round and square tubes, manufactured by more than 5,000 employees at ArcelorMittal Dofasco.
The unveiling of the cauldron, which took place during the Opening Ceremony of the Toronto 2015 games, was watc hed by hundreds of millions of people, with the vibrant design of the piece intended to reflect the unique aspects of Toronto and Canada and the competitive fire of the Games. In conjunction with the story of diversity performed at the opening ceremony, the cauldron represented a sum of unique parts, with no one scale repeated and each offering its own individual design. Each scale was created as an embodiment of the variety in sporting events taking place, and the varied nations and communities participating therein.
"Congratulations to both ArcelorMittal Dofasco and TO2015 on this partnership, which will provide the Games cauldron – one of the most recognised symbols of these important Games”, said the Honourable Bal Gosal, Minister of State for Sport. "Our Government is pleased to see ArcelorMittal Dofasco supporting the 2015 Pan and Parapan American Games, as the private sector has an important role to play in Canadian sport”.
A replica cauldron has also been built as a commemorative legacy and will reside in Hamilton, Ontario.
Photo by ArcelorMittal (Opening ceremony cauldron)
