On July 27-28, pro-Kremlin media “Alt-Info” (1;2), the conservative outlet “Georgia First,” and Georgian-language users (1, 2) that regularly disseminate disinformation, commented on the appearance of the steel horse and bull’s head sculptures at the Paris Olympics. One user claims that the “bull’s head” is associated with the satanic symbol Moloch, which is also a symbol of war and fire among the Israelites and demands child sacrifices. The other user also calls the animal’s head a “symbol of child sacrifice” and claims that the steel horse and its rider represent the “White Horseman of the Apocalypse.” “Georgia First” adds a caption from the Book of Revelation about the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse to the photo of the horse. On the air of “Alt-Info,” the hosts discussed “specific satanic elements,” including connections to the golden calf and the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse.
Zurab Makharadze: “There is an image of a rider, entirely in silver, a grey horse with wings lit behind it, and this was done intentionally. Initially, it was to come along the Seine, then pass by, followed by all the countries. Anyone who had any associations with this saw that it is very clearly mentioned in the Bible – the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse is one of the main stories, and everyone who saw it, whether Americans or Europeans, said it symbolized that.”
Claims about the “Horseman of the Apocalypse” and the golden calf were also spread in Russian (1;2).
The claims about the appearance of the steel horse and bull’s head at the Paris Olympics are conspiracies. In reality, the woman riding the steel horse represented the mythological goddess Sequana, and the animal’s head is not the golden calf but a sculpture of a bull created in 1937.
-
What Did the Woman on the Steel Horse Signify?
On July 26, the opening ceremony of the 2024 Olympic Games took place in Paris. The event included many details, but special attention was given to the River Seine, where members of the national delegations sailed in designated boats. It was in the Seine that the steel horse appeared as part of the opening ceremony. In the following scenes, the rider appeared in front of the Eiffel Tower and hoisted the Olympic flag.
Despite claims linking the steel horse to the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse and the Book of Revelation, the official X (Twitter) page of the Olympics wrote on the same day that the horsewoman and the steel horse were connected to the Olympic spirit and aimed to call for peace and solidarity.
In the following days, the artistic director of the ceremony, Thomas Jolly, provided an explanation about the steel horse and its symbolic meaning. According to him, the idea was to spread the “Olympic spirit,” which is filled with friendship and solidarity and aims to unite the world. Jolly also explained that the rider on the steel horse also represented “Sequana, the goddess of the river and a symbol of resilience.”
The wings that appeared behind the horsewoman after she moved in front of the Eiffel Tower symbolized peace. According to the media (1;2), the person on the horse was Florian Issert, a non-commissioned officer for the National Gendarmerie.
-
How Did the Bull’s Head Appear at the Opening Ceremony?
After the woman on the horse delivered the Olympic flag to the ceremony participants, an animal’s head appeared in the frame, which has been associated with the golden calf and the satanic symbol Moloch. The golden calf is a symbol of rejecting Christianity – according to the Bible, the Israelites worshipped it when their leader Moses was on Mount Sinai. As for Moloch, his name appears several times in the Hebrew Bible. According to the Bible, Moloch was associated with child sacrifices. Since the Middle Ages, he has been depicted as a figure with a bull’s head.
However, in reality, the sculpture is not the golden calf but a bull’s head. Notably, the conspiracy theory has spread not only in Georgia. The claim on social media that the ceremony was a satanic ritual and the animal’s head represented the golden calf was also fact-checked by France 24’s fact-checking division, The Observers. The location where the ceremony took place and the flag was raised is the Trocadéro Fountain, which features Paul Jouve’s 1937 sculpture titled “Bull’s head and leaping deer.” Jouve received a commission for the 1937 International Exposition of Art and Technology in Paris and was awarded a gold medal for his work.
The stage for the Olympic Games opening ceremony was set up near the Trocadéro gardens and fountains, explaining the appearance of the bull’s head and the leaping fear in the frame during the flag-raising.
The article has been written in the framework of Facebook’s fact-checking program. You can read more about the restrictions that Facebook may impose based on this article via this link. You can find information about appealing or editing our assessment via this link.
Read detailed instructions for editing the article.
Read detailed appeal instructions.
