The torch arrived in the capital yesterday, on the French national holiday, July 14. It paraded on the Champs-Élysées, among other places. And today, the flame continues its journey with stops planned not far from the Eiffel Tower, the Trocadéro or on the courts of Roland-Garros. Some 540 torchbearers carry the legendary object in front of spectators who often come in large numbers. Report by Baptiste Coulon.
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In the early afternoon, the Olympic flame passed through the 15th arrondissement of Parissouthwest of the capital, surrounded by gendarmes who escort it. The public is still as numerous. It cheers this Olympic flame, between two rain showers. A few drops that did not dissuade the spectators of the day. Some enjoy the spectacle by cheering it while sitting on the terraces of cafes and restaurants, many families also with children.
This flame that we had perhaps forgotten a little, due to the political context, is making its comeback here in Paris and setting the capital ablaze. It began its journey this morning in the north of Paris, we saw it pass in particular in front of the Moulin Rouge, the famous Parisian cabaret. We were also treated to a french cancan free by the dancers of the cabaret, in front of the entrance of the monument. The flame will pass at the level of the Eiffel Tower, in the south of the capital, then in the east.
Athletes who have already won medals carried it this Monday morning. Laura Flessel for example, the former French fencer, others who are still waiting for their first Olympic title like the French gymnast Samir Aït Saïd. Also among the bearers, Catherine Moyon de Baecque, president of the commission of inquiry into sexist and sexual abuses in sport. She is the first high-level French athlete to have broken the law of silence in sport after a sexual assault suffered in 1991 within the French athletics team. She explains to RFI, the symbol that the Olympic flame that she carried today represents for her.
Carrying the Olympic flame today, in Paris, on the eve of the 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games, is historically important, symbolically important and it is also the embodiment of the fact that good triumphs over evil because I should have died several times. Everything was done to silence me and make me disappear. However, I have returned to the heart of the Olympic reactor and this flame allows us to transmit this confidence, this hope, this benevolence. All areas of society must consider that violence is not acceptable and that everything must be done to keep it away.
Catherine Moyon de Baecque, torchbearer: “It’s an honor and a joy”
The flame continues its journey, it will light the cauldron this evening at Place de la République in Paris. Obviously a way to set the capital ablaze one last time today.
Read also2024 Olympics: the Olympic flame arrives in Paris for July 14