This well-known chef from the small screen will have the privilege of carrying the Olympic flame a few hundred meters in Bayonne, in the Basque Country.
While the Paris 2024 Olympic Games are fast approaching, the Olympic flame, lit on April 16 in Olympia in Greece, has begun its journey to France. Arriving by boat in Marseille on May 8, she traveled across France for 80 days, crossing more than 400 cities and 5 overseas territories, finishing in style in Paris on July 26. To relay this symbolic flame of peace and fraternity during this iconic ritual of the biggest sporting event in the world, this cathodic leader with Colombian blood was chosen in his adopted region.
It is in Bayonne in the Basque Country, next Monday May 20, that chef Juan Arbelaez, former candidate for the show Top Chef on M6 in 2012 and today at the head of no less than 14 restaurants between Paris, Lille and Tignes, will brandish the colors of the bright orange flag of the Olympic flame over a distance of 200 meters. The young 36-year-old chef was delighted with this role as Ambassador of the Flame for the 2024 Olympic Games, which speaks to his heart and soul as an athlete: “It was so unthinkable for me that it wasn’t even a dream I can only thank my adopted country, France, for giving me unique experiences,” the chef rejoiced on his Instagram page.
Passionate about sports since he was little, Juan Arbelaez, born in Bogotá in Colombia and arrived in Paris at the age of 18, is a hyperactive chef who, when he is not in his kitchen, leaves in a van, heading to the Atlantic Ocean, tackle the waves on his surfboard to unwind from his entrepreneurial lifestyle. The chef, who says he has always had a link with the ocean, even on the Pacific coast in Colombia, has been surfing for several years now in France, Spain and Portugal. He loves all types of board sports, whether by wind or waves, but particularly kite-surfing which he practices assiduously in the Basque Country with his dream team. “We can’t cook without this relationship with nature and we can’t surf without this relationship with nature,” he told the magazine Surf Session. One thing is certain, the young chef with Colombian blood will be able to make the Olympic flame shine with a warmth that he knows.
Another well-known name in the world of gastronomy, chef Anne-Sophie Pic, whose 3-star restaurant in the Michelin Guide is located in Valence, was selected by the Drôme prefecture to carry the Olympic flame. Alexandre Mazzia, a three-star chef but also a former professional basketball player, represented the city of Marseille. Added to the list of these privileged chefs is Jacques Chibois, one of the leaders of the “cuisine du soleil” who officiates at La Bastide St-Antoine in Grasse, a 5* Relais & Châteaux hotel recognized by the Grandes Tables du World, Pierre Sang Boyer, finalist of the show Top Chef in 2011 who runs his restaurant in the 11th arrondissement of Paris, and finally, chef Thierry Marx, passionate about judo and sport in general, who will light the Olympic cauldron at Place des Quinconces in Bordeaux on May 23.