The Olympic flame for Paris 2024, lit by the sun in ancient Olympia, Greece, and carried by a relay system, will travel through more than 400 French cities for 68 days, the organization announced this Friday.
“Paris 2024 is the largest collective project in our history. The torch relay [olímpica] plays an important role because it can affect many people”said the president of the organizing committee, Tony Estanguet.
The torch will be illuminated by the sun’s rays in ancient Olympia, Greece, on April 16, and after traveling across the country, it will leave Athens on April 27 aboard a three-master named Bethlehem, bound for the French port of Marseille. .
Belém was first used in 1896, the year of the first Olympic Games of the modern era, recreated by Pierre de Coubertin, and will be guided by French navigator Armel Le Cléac’h, winner of the Vendée Globe solo tour around the world, in 2017.
After arriving in Marseille on May 8, the torch will pass historic sites such as the imposing Mont Saint-Michel in Normandy and the medieval city of Carcassonne. You will also tour the famous red wine vineyards of Saint-Émilion and the white wine of Chablis.
“These are the games of the country,” said Paris mayor Anne Hidalgo, citing French author Victor Hugo and his theme of universality: “Paris belongs to the whole country.”
A tour of France’s overseas territories, called the Relais des Oceans, begins in Guyana on June 9 and passes by Reunion Island, Polynesia, Guadeloupe and Martinique, before returning the Olympic torch to Nice on June 18.
The torch continues overland, climbing the mountain pass of Chamonix for Olympic Day on June 23, before spending July 14 – known as Bastille Day, France’s national holiday – and July 15 in Paris.
The torch will travel through several suburbs of Paris before returning to the French capital via Seine-Saint-Denis – home to the Stade de France. Further details of the route to Paris will be announced on July 5.
The place where the Olympic flame will be lit and at what time, as well as the role that the iconic Eiffel Tower, symbol of France, will play in the whole process, are still a secret.
A total of 10,000 people will take part in the torch relay, which includes Olympic swimming champions Laure Manaudou and Florent Manaudou – who are brothers – along with Paralympians Mona Francis (triathlon) and Dimitri Pavadé (long jump).
Local police forces responsible for each leg of the relay will assist with security. Law enforcement will guide and protect the flame with a safety bell around the torch and its wearer.
An eight-person team, called the Keepers of the Flame, were hand-picked to ensure the flame burns constantly. They were selected from the police and the army after an internal competition.
The 2024 Paris Olympics will take place from July 26 to August 11, followed by the Paralympics from August 28 to September 8. The flame of the Paralympic Games will be lit in the British city of Stoke Mandeville and carried by 1,000 people.
Source: DN
