One of the highlights of the opening ceremony of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games was the ride down the Seine of a mysterious rider on a shining metallic horse. Morgane Suquart, co-founder of Breton company MMProcess, is the artist and designer of this majestic metal horse.
A silver rider, Olympic flag on her shoulders, paraded on the waters of the Seine, captivating the whole world. Under a huge hood was Morgane Suquart, co-founder of MMProcess. Not only did she design this mechanical steed, she also rode it, masked, at this global event.
A few days after the opening ceremony, Morgane Suquart still remembers the magical experience. "It was a very magical moment. There was a communion with the public that was so pleasant. Unfortunately for me, I couldn't see anything through the hood. I had to be as discreet as possible. I was carried away by the crowd's enthusiasm," she told RMC.
The adventure began in July 2023, when MMProcess signed a confidentiality agreement for a top-secret project. "A colleague of my partner's called us to tell us that we needed to move a mass at 25 km/h. We found out it was for the Olympic Games, to move a statue weighing around 500 kilos across the Seine."
It took almost a year's work to create this sumptuous mechanical horse. Morgane Suquart, initially commissioned to design it, was not scheduled to ride it. "They were looking for a pilot to train the rider, and as I do a lot of boating and was helping with the design, I was told 'you're the one who's going to train her'."
With no rider available, Morgane Suquart finally took the reins of the metal steed. "One day, the costume designer called me and told me I had to try on the costume because I was going to be the one piloting the horse. It was a great joy," she recounts.
Energized by the experience, Morgane Suquart is already planning similar projects for the future. "We'd love to do projects like this again, with articulated animals rising from the sea. That would be really cool," she tells RMC.
This appearance not only highlighted the exceptional work of French designers, but also made a lasting impression on the audience at the dreamlike opening ceremony. One of the tableaux, entitled "Solidarité", featured this silver horse embodying the "Olympic spirit" and Sequana, goddess of the Seine, riding up the Parisian river to the Eiffel Tower. The horsewoman then rode to the Trocadero, where she carried the Olympic flag.
For the record, the goddess Sequana is an emblematic figure of Gallic mythology, honored as the divinity of the Seine. She embodies the power and vitality of the river that flows through Paris and the surrounding area. In Antiquity, she was particularly venerated at the sources of the Seine, located in Burgundy, where a sanctuary was dedicated to her. This sacred site attracted numerous pilgrims in search of healing and benefits, testifying to Sequana's importance in Gallic spirituality. Offerings found at the site, such as statuettes and ex-voto offerings in the shape of body parts, reveal the hopes of worshippers for miracles. As protector of the waters, Sequana symbolized fertility and purification, essential qualities for the peoples living along the Seine.
Atelier Blam, a design and manufacturing studio based in Nantes, is behind this 1.80-metre metal horse. Founded in 2015 by artistic director Aurélien Meyer, the studio worked for a year to create this silver jewel, featuring a flotation system designed specifically for the event.
To pass bridges and steer, Morgane Suquart held on to two ropes, which are in fact steering lines on a boat," explains the former merchant navy officer. To navigate this mechanical steed over 6 km, the engineers designed a trimaran 14 m long and 5 m wide, weighing over 2.5 tonnes and made entirely of recycled carbon. To make the boat virtually invisible in the dark, the buoyancy was adjusted so that only 15 cm of the boat emerged from the water. To travel up the Seine at around 24 km/h, the trimaran was equipped with a 123 hp electric motor, powered by 18 batteries.
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Floriane Issert, a non-commissioned officer in the Gendarmerie Nationale, then carried the flag across the Pont d'Iéna to the esplanade du Trocadéro. The grey-coated horse was Baraco, formerly of the Republican Guard and Chambord.
The rider's costume was designed by Jeanne Friot and Robert Mercier. Jeanne Friot, seen as the next Vivienne Westwood, campaigns for gender-neutral and responsible fashion, while Robert Mercier is a leather specialist, having worked for luxury houses such as Schiaparelli and Balmain. They collaborated to create a suit of armor in upcycled leather, giving this rider a modern-day Joan of Arc look.
In short, the opening ceremony of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games undoubtedly left its mark, thanks to the magic and innovation provided by talents such as Morgane Suquart and the MMProcess team, offering the world a dazzling vision of French excellence in design and creativity.
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