Brian McDonald
Paris — Crowds began to gather Wednesday morning around Marseille’s Old Port when a 19th-century sailing ship carrying the Olympic flame appeared on the horizon. More than 1,000 boats accompanied the Belém, a three-masted schooner, as it approached the port of France’s second largest city, in a slow maritime parade in calm seas under a clear blue sky.
The flame will be carried ashore on Wednesday night by four-time French Olympic medalist, swimmer Florent Manaudou. A surprise guest will then pick it up and light the Olympic cauldron in Porto Velho, in front of an expected crowd of 150,000 people.
City officials said an additional billion people are expected to watch the event live on television around the world – a first spectacle for fans less than three months before the start of the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris on 26 July.
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A number of sports stars will take part in the parade, including former NBA star Tony Parker and Ivory Coast football great Didier Drogba, as well as charity and entertainment figures. French President Emmanuel Macron was among those in Marseille to watch the arrival. Fireworks and a free outdoor concert were scheduled to continue into the night.
The flame was transported from Greece aboard the Belém. During the 12-day voyage, the flame was part of the daily life of the historic ship. The crew even brought it to the table during meals and guarded it carefully while bad weather caused violent waves.
The festivities continue in Marseille on Thursday, when the flame will begin a 68-day, 12,000-kilometer journey across France, passing through the mainland and France’s overseas territories. Around 11,000 torchbearers will carry it across 65 French territories, stopping in more than 450 towns and cities along the way, as well as many iconic and historic sites.
From Marseille, you will cross the south of France, including a crossing to the island of Corsica, before heading south-west of France, up the west coast to Normandy and then to Brittany. From there, the flame will return to the seas to visit Guadeloupe and Martinique. Another torch will be presented in the distant territories of French Guiana, Réunion and French Polynesia.
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On the mainland, the Olympic flame will visit Lascaux in the southwest, where ancient paintings cover cave walls; the medieval fortress of Carcassonne; Palace of Versailles; Mont Saint-Michel; and the castles of the Loire Valley. He will tour vineyards and visit some of the Olympic sites.
Throughout the trip, the Olympic torch relay, which started in Greece last monthwill highlight some of the key figures who inspired and contributed to French culture, from Joan of Arc to Charles de Gaulle and singer Edith Piaf.
The relay will end in Paris on July 26th for the opening ceremony on the River Seine – the first Olympic curtain raiser held outside a stadium.
“It’s something we’ve been waiting for a long time,” chief organizer Tony Estanguet said on Monday, referring to the 100 years since Paris last hosted the Summer Olympics. “The Games are coming home.”
France, which also hosted the 1900 Games, sees itself at the center of the modern Olympic movement. It was a French aristocrat, Pierre de Coubertin, who revived the idea of the Games practiced by the Greeks until the 4th century BC
Wednesday’s highly choreographed ceremony is a first test for the French organizing committee, which has been hit by criticism over the cost of tickets and disruption in host cities, especially Paris, where transport and other public works have damaged the landscape. in the last two years.
Security is also a concern and the Marseille event was also a first test of this. France is on high alert for terrorism following revelations that it ISIS affiliate suspected of attacking Moscow concert hall in March he had plans to also attack France.
Around 6,000 police officers were on duty in Marseille for the arrival of the flame.
“It is completely unprecedented for the national police to mobilize so many people on the same day and in the same location,” regional police coordinator Cedric Esson told journalists ahead of the event.
Around 200 members of the French security forces will accompany the flame throughout the relay. They will include an anti-terrorism SWAT team and anti-drone agents.
The designers of the 2024 Olympic torch say it’s all about symbolism. It is made of lightweight steel for purity and tapers at the top and bottom in a symmetry meant to reflect equality and parity.
The same torch will be used for the first time at the Olympic and Paralympic Games – reflecting efforts to build bridges between the two.
