The Olympic flame is lit this Tuesday, April 16 in Olympia.
This is the real kick-off of the Paris 2024 Olympics. This Tuesday, April 16, in Olympia in Greece, the Olympic flame is lit. After two editions marked by Covid and therefore without guests or a big ceremony, this ritual will regain all its colors on the occasion of the Paris Olympics. In the sanctuary of Olympia, in front of the 2,600-year-old ruins of the temple of Hera, the “high priestess”, dressed in a costume inspired by Antiquity, must light the flame at 10:30 a.m. before that the latter leaves for a short 11-day trip to Greece. On April 26, the Olympic flame handover ceremony will take place at the Panathenaic Stadium in Greece, an ancient stadium. The flame will then be handed over to the organizers of the Paris Games before embarking for France and Marseille (arrival scheduled for May 8).
How is the flame lit?
The flame ignition system involves the use of the sun and a parabolic cylindrical mirror, a process already known to the ancient Greeks: the rays of the sun which are reflected in the container release intense heat making it possible to obtain A flame. The weather forecast predicts cloudy skies on Tuesday in this western region of the Peloponnese peninsula (southwest), but even in the event of changeable skies or, worse, rain, the flame is lit during rehearsals. Greek actress Mary Mina will then be able to brandish the torch which will then be carried by the first torchbearer, Stefanos Ntouskos, Olympic rowing champion at the Tokyo Olympics. French swimmer Laure Manaudou, who won her first Olympic title, in the 400m freestyle, at the Athens Olympic Games in 2004, will be the first French relay runner.
What will be the route of the Olympic flame for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games? The map
The Marseille city will be the first stopover city for the Olympic flame in France. It was chosen by the organization because of its location and its historical proximity to Greece. From the South of France, the flame should then travel to the rest of the country, crossing numerous metropolises but also tourist sites, showcases of the French heritage.
- Among these cities are Toulon, Nice, Toulouse, Montpellier, Sète and Millau. The flame continues its path towards the Atlantic coast via the Dordogne and discovering seven communes including Périgueux. Libourne, Saint-Emilion and Bordeaux.
- Then head west with expected passages in La Baule, but also in Brittany with a stop in Brest or even in Mayenne at Laval.
- Among the relays intended to illustrate the diversity of French landscapes, a passage to Chamonix, a stop at Mont Saint-Michel. Historical heritage will be highlighted from the battlefields of Verdun to the Millau viaduct, including the castles of the Loire, the Pont du Gard, Lourdes and the house of the “father of Europe” Robert Schuman.
Marseille, Carcassonne, Bastia, Toulouse, Bordeaux, Les Sables d’Olonne, Mont-Saint-Michel, the overseas territories, Lille or Paris, the route and dates of the Olympic flame was revealed on Friday June 23 (the places in parentheses are the sites crossed).
- May 10: Marseille (Roucas-Blanc Marina and Stade de Marseille) – Toulon
- May 11: Toulon (Almanarre and the Salt Route) – Manosque
- May 12: Manosque (Citadel of Sisteron and Verdon regional natural park) – Arles
- May 13: Arles (Port-Saint-Louis-du-Rhône and Arènes d’Arles) – Montpellier
- May 14: Montpellier (Arc de Triomphe and Millau Viaduct) – Bastia
- May 15: Bastia (Aiguilles de Bavella) – Perpignan
- May 16: Perpignan (Font-Romeu and Mont Canigou national altitude training center) – Carcassonne
- May 17: Carcassonne (Place des Chalets and Gruissan and Cité Médiécale) – Toulouse
- May 18: Toulouse (the Halle de Revel) – Auch
- May 19: Auch (the statue of the Musketeers of Dumas in Condom) – Tarbes
- May 20: Tarbes (Cirque de Gavarnie and Pic du Midi de Bigorre) – Pau
- May 22: Pau (whitewater stadium and Biarritz beach) – Périgueux
- May 23: Périgueux (Dordogne basin and Lascaux Caves) – Bordeaux
- May 24: Bordeaux (City of wine and vineyards of Saint-Emilion) – Angoulême
- May 25: Angoulême (Cognac and Comic Strip Museum) – Grand Poitiers-Futuroscope
- May 27: Grand Poitiers-Futuroscope (palace of the Dukes of Aquitaine) – Châteauroux
- May 28: Châteauroux (Valençay castle) – Angers
- May 29: Angers (Montsoreau castle and Coteaux-du-Layon vineyard) – Laval
- May 30: Laval (medieval city and Sainte-Suzanne-et-Chammes) – Caen
- May 31: Caen (Honfleur and D-Day beaches) – Mont-Saint-Michel
- 1er June: Mont-Saint-Michel (Saint-Vaast-la Hougue) – Rennes
- June 2: Rennes (Brocéliande forest – Paimpont) – Niort
- June 4: Niort (Marais Poitevin – Coulon) – Les Sables-d’Olonne
- June 5: Les Sables-d’Olonne (the passage of Gois and Puy-du-Fou) – La Baule
- June 7: La Baule (the bay of La Baule) – Vannes
- June 8: Vannes (city of sailing Eric Tabarly and Ile-aux-Moines) – Brest
- Atlantic relay
- June 9: Cayenne (Camopi and Oyapock River and Kourou space center)
- June 12: Saint-Denis (Plaine des Sables and city of the volcano and Pointe de Langevin)
- June 13: Papeete (Island of Tahiti and Teahupo’o)
- June 15: Baie-Mahault (memorial act and Pointe-à-Pitre)
- June 17: Fort-de-France (Mountain Pelée and Saint-Pierre)
- June 19: Nice (Antibes Juan-les-Pins and Palais des Festivals de Cannes) – Avignon
- June 20: Avignon Antique Theater of Orange and Mont Ventoux) – Valence
- June 21: Valence (Château de Grignan) – Vichy
- June 22: Vichy (Creps de Vichy) – Saint-Étienne
- June 23: Saint-Étienne (house of culture – Le Corbusier and the Geoffroy-Guichard stadium) – Chamonix
- June 24: Chamonix (Lake Annecy and the Mont-Blanc valley) – Besançon
- June 25: Besançon (Chaux-Neuve ski jumps) – Strasbourg
- June 26: Strasbourg (Huningue and gateway of the three countries) – Metz
- June 27: Metz (glass site of Meisenthal and house of Robert Schuman – Scy-Chazelles) – Saint-Dizier
- June 28: Saint-Dizier (Bourbonne-les-Bains and Charles de Gaulle memorial Colombey-les-Deux-Eglises) – Verdun
- June 29: Verdun (Citadel of Montmédy and Verdun memorial) – Reims
- June 30: Reims (Avenue de Champagne and Epernay) – Lille
- July 2: Lille (Wallers-Arenberg) – Lens
- July 3: Lens (Bollaert-Delelis stadium and Louvre-Lens) – Amiens
- July 4: Amiens (Bay of Somme and Saint-Valéry-sur-Somme) – Le Havre
- July 5: Le Havre (Rouen Cathedral) – Vernon
- July 6: Vernon (Pont-Audemer) – Chartres
- July 7: Chartres (royal domain of Dreux) – Blois
- July 9: Blois (Chambord castle) – Orléans
- July 10: Orléans (castle of Sully-sur-Loire and house of Joan of Arc-Orléans) – Auxerre
- July 11: Auxerre (Vézelay and Chablis vineyard) – Dijon
- July 12: Dijon (clos de Vougeot and archaeological site of Alésia) – Troyes
- July 13: Troyes (the lakes of the Orient forest) – Paris
- Ile-de-France relay
- July 14-15: Paris (Insep, Court Simonne-Mathieu (Roland-Garros), Place de la Bastille, City Hall and National Assembly
- July 17: Saint-Quentin (family of Guise and international city of the French language)
- July 18: Beauvais (Château de Chantilly)
- July 19: Soisy-sous-Montmorency (Antwerp-sur-Oise)
- July 20: Meaux (Fontainebleau castle)
- July 21: Créteil (Rungis market of national interest)
- July 22: Evry-Courcouronnes (national rugby center – Marcousis)
- July 23: Versailles (Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines) – National Golf and Palace of Versailles)
- July 24: Esplanade de la Défense-Nanterre (Harras de Jardy and Yves-du-Manoir stadium)
- July 25: Georges-Valbon Park (Ourcq canal and Saint-Denis Olympic aquatic center)
- July 26: final day and lighting of the Olympic flame
For the flame to pass through a territory, the departments had to invest 150,000 euros excluding taxes (€180,000 with). Nearly 37 departmental councils refused to host the torch, believing that there were other financial priorities. “About a quarter of the cost is borne by the departments. The other three quarters are borne by the Organizing Committee,” Tony Estanguet tried to justify. For certain departments such as Lozère, hosting the flame represents a cost of €2.35 per inhabitant compared to less than 9 cents for Bouches-du-Rhône.
The flame will therefore not pass through the following territories: Ardennes, Meurthe-et-Moselle, Vosges, Haute-Saône, Territoire de Belfort, Jura, Saône-et-Loire, Ain, Rhône, Savoie, Hautes-Alpes, Saône-et -Loire, Nièvre, Cher, Gard, Ardèche, Haute-Loire, Lozère, Cantal, Puy-de-Dôme, Corrèze, Creuse, Haute-Vienne, Lot, Tarn, Tarn-et-Garonne, Lot-et-Garonne, Landes , Charente-Maritime, Indre-et-Loire, Sarthe, Orne, Côtes d’Armor, Mayotte.
Who can carry the Olympic and Paralympic flame?
Around 10,000 people will be able to carry the Olympic flame. Among these “elected officials”, there will obviously be high-level athletes, associations or collectives, people with disabilities or volunteers who have previously been drawn.
Small innovation, there will be collective relays in groups of 24. There will be nearly 3,000. Individually, there will be approximately 7,000. In total, 5,000 applications would be analyzed and studied by juries “distributed throughout France” ‘after the official website of “Paris 2024“. However, certain conditions are required to hope to become a torchbearer.
You must first be 15 years or older. You must then be a member of the Paris 2024 club or register to be one. Finally, you must nominate a loved one with an argument. the people selected must carry within themselves “the energy of sport, the energy of the territories and the energy of the collective”, details the “Paris 2024” procedure. This process takes a total of around ten minutes. Each chosen torchbearer will cover approximately 200 meters and will enjoy this unique moment for almost 4 minutes.
Who are the ambassadors and “captains” of the Olympic flame?
Two captains have been designated for this Olympic flame. They are Laure Manaudou and her brother Florent. Concerning the Paralympic flame, Mona Francis and Dimitri Pavadé were chosen. With the exception of Mona Francis, they all won medals at the Games. The first ambassadors will be Marine Ltemporel, Thomas Pesquet, Djamel Debouze and even chef Thierry Marx.
The sporting side will be at the heart of the Olympic torch relay with the French cycling federation which will bring the torch by bike to the summit of Mont Ventoux. Armel Le Cléac’h will ensure the transition of the flame to the overseas territories.
The crew of the winner of the 2016 Vendée Globe is still unknown and the time record holder for the biggest single-handed event has kept it a secret. On the other hand, he promised distinguished guests, but “they need to have a bit of sea legs”, he joked during the presentation ceremony of the torch route.
This is one of the issues surrounding the Olympic flame before each edition of the Olympic Games: it must not be extinguished. There will therefore always be a “guardian of the flame”. He will have at his disposal a safety lantern to monitor it or revive it in the event of an unforeseen event. The torch could also be exposed to protest movements such as “no pensions, no Olympics” which occurred in April 2023 against the pension reform.
A more serious scenario is feared by the authorities. These are terrorist attacks. A huge system will be put in place accordingly during this “traveling bubble”. Police officers and gendarmes will be mobilized, surveillance drones and anti-drones deployed and security agencies called.