The former footballer Jean-Pierre Papin, legend of the Olympique de Marseille, the former basketball player Tony Parker and the rapper Soprano will be part of the hundred bearers of the Olympic flame in Marseille on Thursday, May 9, the first stage of the relay which will take it to Paris for the opening of the 2024 Olympics on July 26.
Wednesday May 8, the flame will arrive in France’s second city after twelve days of crossing the Mediterranean aboard the three-masted ship White. Swimmer Florent Manaudou will be the first bearer on French soil. The Olympic cauldron will be lit around 7:45 p.m.
Then, on May 9, the flame will travel through Marseille, which will be with Paris the only French city to be crossed for an entire day. The relay will take place over eight segments via several emblematic places in the city. It will start at the Notre-Dame-de-la-Garde basilica, which overlooks the Mediterranean, and will end in front of the Stade-Vélodrome.
The names of several torchbearers have been revealed by the relay organizers. Valentin Rongier, current captain of Olympique de Marseille, and Didier Drogba, another legend of the Marseille club, will be among the pallbearers, as will Louisa Necib, Marseillaise and former number 10 of the French football team, former swimmers Fabien Gilot and Frédérick Bousquet, the three-star chef Alexandre Mazzia…
In addition to renowned athletes and artists, committed citizens will also carry the Olympic flame, such as Nathalie Paoli, co-founder of the Le Point rose association, which supports parents who have lost a child so that they can regain resilience and joy of living. .
“When we lose a child, something goes out, the vital flame flickers within the parents”told AFP this woman whose daughter Carla-Marie died of a tumor at the age of 9. “But the challenge for parents who have experienced such misfortune is to keep this vital flame within them, so it is really very symbolic to be a bearer of the Olympic flame”, she added. For the one who accompanied hundreds of grieving parents through Point Rose, an association located near Marseille, the flame also symbolizes these children who died too soon but “who continue to light up the lives of their parents”.
Our selection of articles on the Paris 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games
Find all our content on the Paris 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games:
The security perimeters of the opening ceremony in detail
Emergency medicine is also preparing for the Olympics
The risk of cyberattacks during the Games “really scares” the Ile-de-France health system
Cyberattacks, scams and disinformation, the online threats weighing on the Paris Olympic Games
QR code, anti-terrorist perimeter… Gérald Darmanin specifies the security system for the opening ceremony
How the Olympics prepare for the risk of epidemics
Roissy and Orly airports face the challenge of the Olympic and Paralympic Games
Should we fear the worst in transport in Ile-de-France?
Transport during the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris: from the euphoria of promises to the shock of reality
Paris 2024: meeting the transport challenge, a test before its time
The Olympic BMX track, too advantageous a playing field for the French team?
The Paris 2024 Olympic Village takes up residence in Seine-Saint-Denis
A logistical time trial at the Olympic Village for the Organizing Committee
Bernard Thibault: “For the 2024 Games, our objective is to demonstrate that major events are not incompatible with high social rights
- Athlete preparation
Volleyball player Lucille Gicquel revises her ranges in Türkiye before the French team’s big Olympic debut
At the Paris Paralympic Games, Cyrille Chahboune and the French volleyball players will be seated for the first time
Janja Garnbret, “best climber of all time” and icon in Slovenia
Inauguration and crowd bath for Clarisse Agbégnénou before the home stretch of her Olympic preparation
The marathon course shakes up athletes’ training habits
Four months before the Paris 2024 Olympics, all the lights are green for “the king of swimming” Léon Marchand
Does France really have the means to shine in the medal rankings?
Simone Biles on her way to Paris 2024: “I’m getting old and I have more to lose”
- The question of the presence of Russian and Belarusian athletes
In Russia, the sports movement is torn apart over its participation in the Olympics
“All the ingredients come together to replay an episode in the long history of Olympic boycotts”
Thomas Bach, IOC President: “The aggressiveness of the Russian government is growing day by day, against the Committee, against the Games, against me”
The popular ticket office of the State and local authorities faces the challenge of logistics
The government is struggling to distribute its free tickets to people with disabilities
The Organizing Committee ensures that it has completed more than 90% of its revenue budget
Tony Estanguet confirms that there have been salary increases at the management of the Games Organizing Committee
In search of savings, the organizers of the Games are seeking help from partner communities
- Ongoing legal investigations
Tony Estanguet, the boss of the Games, in his turn in the sights of justice
The “four musketeers” of the organizing committee targeted by the PNF
- The Olympic Torch Relay
Some municipalities are irritated by the requirements and costs linked to hosting the torch relay
The government steps on the accelerator to close the accessibility gap
- Seine-Saint-Denis and the Games
At the Arthur-Rimbaud vocational high school in La Courneuve, a « option JO » against dropping out of school
The Olympic aquatic center, an XXL swimming pool for Seine-Saint-Denis
La Courneuve between enthusiasm and concern regarding the transformation of Georges-Valbon Park
The Red Star Rugby of Saint-Ouen deprived of a stadium because of the Games
An island, an eco-friendly mayor and “the chance” to benefit from the Games
- Paris at Games time
After the requisition of their accommodation, students not yet sure of their fate
As the Games approach, associations fighting against poverty fear “social cleansing”
Enthusiastic inauguration for the Adidas Arena, the new venue at Porte de la Chapelle
- The Games are not just Paris and Seine-Saint-Denis
Marseille is banking on the arrival of the Olympic flame to arouse interest in the Games
In Martinique and Guadeloupe, Olympic fever rises remotely
In Polynesia, Teahupoo is delighted to host the 2024 Olympic Games but fears overtourism
- Environmental issues
“The objective of reducing bacteriological pollution in the Seine by 75% will be achieved”, assures the Minister of Sports
The risks of a scorching summer raise fears of a suffocating Olympic Games
Halving the carbon footprint of meals served at the Games: the other challenge of Paris 2024
How the organizers of the Olympic Games plan to deal with a heatwave this summer
- The societal issues that the Games highlight
Persistent recruitment difficulties less than three months before the Olympic Games
The State launches a Games accessibility guide for people with disabilities
The anti-Olympics struggle to mobilize
Far from the splendor of the Olympics, the reality of PE lessons in a Montreuil college
At the time of sport, a major national cause, the worrying situation of swimming pools in France
School sport is still looking for the right formula
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