They are the ones through whom the Olympic Games will arrive in Paris at the end of next July. One short stretch of road at a time, 200 meters at a speed of 4 km/h to be precise, during which they will proudly carry the Olympic flame, before passing it on to the next one. From May 8, the date of the torch’s arrival in Marseille, to July 26, when the Olympic cauldron will ignite as the highlight of the opening ceremony, 11,000 little hands will take turns to advance this symbol of the Olympics by connecting more than 400 cities, including in five overseas territories (Réunion, Guyana, Martinique, Guadeloupe, French Polynesia).
After revealing the progress of the collective relays last week, the Organizing Committee revealed this Monday the identity of a large part of the individual relays. The latest profiles, particularly of athletes and personalities, will not be revealed until April, or even kept secret until the last moment. In the meantime, we asked four lucky people to tell us their story and their emotion at having been chosen to carry this flame.
Paul Fontaine, 40 years old (Hérault), fan of major sporting challenges despite his illness
“It’s an honor, a source of pride. I want to carry the flame for the association “Beat cystic fibrosis”, for little patients who live like me with this disease. 10 to 20% of patients do not have access to the medication from which I benefit, which has allowed me to increase my respiratory capacity from 40 to 70% over the past two and a half years. People still die very young from this disease. At 40, I ran the Paris marathon five times, I climbed Mont Blanc in June 2018, I crossed France by bike to the Pointe du Raz, 1,000 km in 7 days. Exactly two years ago, I was at the summit of Kilimanjaro, with a Vendée Globe skipper, Maxime Sorel, national sponsor of “Overcoming Cystic Fibrosis”.
In 2022, I did the GR5 alone, independently, from Thonon-les-Bains to Nice, over 600 km and with 40,000 meters of elevation gain, in 23 days. Thanks to the treatment, I did Kilimanjaro and the GR 5 with clean lungs. I give conferences on resilience, love and surpassing oneself. My driving force is love, the desire to do things. »
Audrey Differnand, 27 years old (Val-de-Marne), involved in the world of sport, is working on innovative ways to detect future champions
“Bryan, a colleague and friend of mine, nominated me to carry the flame, and I was lucky enough to be drawn. During the second round, Paris 2024 read the presentations, including the one that Bryan had made of me, that’s when my application was accepted. A little month ago, I received the email informing me that I had been selected. I was in the office with one of my colleagues, I was reading him the email, until I saw that we had to keep it a secret. Well, it was a secret between them, until recently.
I work at Insep, and sport is all my days. The Tokyo Games were something. We followed them all together during the day. In the evening, we met again. When it was really too late, we followed the Games remotely, we sent each other WhatsApp messages at 5 a.m.: “Oh, you saw judo”. We were tired, but really happy when there was a medal. We were super excited. There, I think, that in Paris, it will be in overdrive. I can not wait. I have done quite a bit of volunteering in sport, particularly in volleyball, and I will still be volunteering during these Olympics. I will be a liaison officer for a national volleyball team, it’s really the best. »
Jean-Claude Gauvin, 84 years old (Val-d’Oise), hyperactive retiree, very committed to children and families in need
” This letter [de candidature], it was me who made it. My adventure began in November 2022. I sent my CV with a complete file everywhere, but I didn’t believe it, and when I received the official email from Cojo telling me that I had been selected, I I read it three times to make sure it was true. I’m 84 years old, but I reacted like a kid. I wouldn’t say I jumped, but it felt like it.
Being at the Games, for me, is recognition by those who nominated me. And it will be the moment to share this relay, with the whole of society, it is a privileged moment. The Olympics are a moment when all countries come together in the same place, a moment to exchange, meet and understand each other. It will be an emotional moment. I asked myself if I was going to be able to carry this flame, because everyone will be looking at me, we won’t have to miss it! I will give the best of myself, it will be an intense moment. »
William Mathelin, 30 years old (Morbihan), navigator very involved in the associative world
“It’s quite unexpected, but it’s great. It’s an incredible event and I had no idea that I would take part in this one day. It was my communications team who made this request for me. She had informed me, but we gave it a try without really believing in it. I received the confirmation email while I was on the train, I completely missed it. Afterwards what was hard was keeping it a secret, but I was super happy and honored to be part of it.
The Olympics are an event that brings together all nations, and beyond the sporting events, it is unique to be able to bring people together like this, especially given the current context. These are events that we have known since childhood, even if we are not interested in sport. We are more or less close to certain sports, with athletes that we follow outside of the Olympics that we can’t wait to see again, like Teddy Riner. In my field, ocean racing, we also see a lot of athletes who leave the Olympic circuit to come there. It allows you to meet them, it’s quite nice. »