On Saturday, the Olympic flame will embark at the port of Piraeus aboard the three-masted ship Belem, direction Marseille. And this Friday at the end of the day, the symbol of unity and peace was handed over to the French organizers during a ceremony at the Panathenaic Stadium in Athens.
Lit on April 16 in the ancient Greek site of Olympia, the flame made a stop on Friday morning at the emblematic place of Marathon, some 42 km from Athens, after having traveled 5,000 km across Greece since its lighting, relayed by 600 people on islands and archaeological sites, including the Rock of the Acropolis of Athens.
A duo of French champions, composed of ice dance skater Gabriella Papadakis, gold medalist at the Beijing Games in 2022, as well as former Paralympic swimmer Béatrice Hess, was chosen to carry the flame during the last meters relay at the Panathenaic Stadium.
11 days of relay in Greece
Papadakis and Hess were accompanied by two Greek athletes, the walking specialist and double European champion Antigoni Ntrismpioti, and the captain of the Greek water polo team, Ioannis Fountoulis, silver medalist at the Tokyo Games in 2021. It was the latter who lit the cauldron to end the 11 days of relay in Greece.
In the historic grounds of the Panathenaic Stadium, which hosted the first Olympic Games of the modern era in 1896, the flame was handed over to Tony Estanguet, president of the Paris Games organizing committee (Cojo) by Spyros Capralos, president of the Greek Olympic Committee. Greek singer Nana Mouskouri performed the French and Greek anthems. The French Minister of Sports and Olympic Games, Amélie Oudéa-Castéra, and Pierre Rabadan, Deputy Mayor of Paris, attended the ceremony.
And now, heading to Marseille from Saturday
Some 150,000 people are expected to welcome him on May 8 in Marseille, and the French Minister of the Interior, Gérald Darmanin, indicated on Friday that 6,000 members of the police would be mobilized to secure the event. A device identical to that deployed in September 2023 for the visit of Pope Francis to the second city of France, founded by the Greeks in 600 BC.
Before entering the Old Port, the Belem will parade in the harbor of Marseille and will be accompanied by 1,024 boats. Entertainment is planned on land and at sea all day long.
On May 9, the flame will begin its journey in France, with visits to the Notre-Dame de la Garde basilica or the Stade Vélodrome. It will then cross the country, also passing through the Antilles and French Polynesia, to arrive in Paris on the day of the opening ceremony of the Games, July 26.