The flame of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games was handed over this Friday, April 26, to the French organizers, during a ceremony in Athens, Greece, before embarking on the three-masted Belem on Saturday to arrive in Marseille. That arrival is scheduled for next May 8 and from there it will begin a tour of French territory until arriving in Paris on July 26, the opening day of the sporting event that will last until August 11.
First modification:
2 min
A symbol of unity and peace, the flame, lit on April 16 at the ancient Greek site of Olympia, was handed over to the French organizers of the 2024 Olympic Games on April 26, at the Panathenaic Stadium, in the center of Athens, the capital of Greece.
The flame arrived at the Panathenaic stadium in central Athens, site of the first modern Olympic Games in 1896, after an 11-day relay through Greece and after lighting at ancient Olympia last week.
Several thousand fans and tourists sat in the stands of the horse-shaped marble stadium on a sun-drenched afternoon as Paris Games director Tony Estanguet received the torch from the president of the Greek Olympic Committee, Spyros Capralos.
The Olympic flame will arrive in Marseille on May 8
The flame must reach the large port of Piraeus, near Athens, and will board the three-masted Belem on Saturday bound for Marseille, in southeastern France.
It is expected that some 150,000 people will receive it on May 8 and the French Minister of the Interior, Gérald Darmanin, indicated that 6,000 police officers would be mobilized to secure the eventas many as in September 2023 on the occasion of Pope Francis' visit to France's second city.
That day, the torch will enter France through Massalia, founded by the Greeks in 600 BC, the Marseille authorities anticipated.
Before entering the Old Port, the Belem will parade through the port of Marseille and will be accompanied by 1,024 boats. Entertainment on land and at sea is planned throughout the day.
“We have calibrated everything to accommodate 150,000 people in an area that includes the Old Port, the end of the Canebière – the emblematic artery of the center of Marseille -, the Pharo gardens (which dominate the Old Port) and the Place aux Huiles,” he said. Samia Ghali, deputy mayor of Marseille.
On May 9, the Olympic flame will begin its journey in France, in Marseille, with visits to the Basilica of Notre-Dame de la Garde or the Stade Vélodrome.
It will then cross the country, also passing through the Antilles and French Polynesia, to arrive in Paris on the day of the opening ceremony of the Games, next July 26, an event that will be held until August 11, in an international context. marked, mainly, by the war in Gaza and the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
#Olympic #Games #French #organizers #receive #Olympic #flame