The Olympic flame was officially handed over by Greece to the French delegation on Friday April 26 at the Panathenaic Stadium in Athens. A step which marks a new milestone before the opening ceremony of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games on July 26. The relay has started on April 16 with the lighting of the flame at the archaeological site of Olympia, birthplace of the ancient Games, and continued with a 5,000 km route through Greece. Nana Mouskouri, one of the most famous Greek singers, very linked to France, will be invited to perform during this handover, broadcast during a special edition on franceinfo channel 27 from 4:30 p.m.
An arrival in France scheduled for May 8. Lhe last torchbearer on Greek soil, Ioannis Fountoulissilver medalist in water polo at the Tokyo 2020 Games, will light the cauldron, into which the “high priestess” will immerse a torch, which she will transmit to the president of the Hellenic Olympic Committee, Spyros Capralos, who will in turn hand it over to the Organizing Committee for the Paris 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games. The arrival of the flame is planned in France on May 8.
Marseille, first stage of the flame on French soil. As soon as the torch is in tricolor hands, it will set off for the port of Piraeus to board the legendary three-masted ship Belem towards Marseille. Marseille will mark this event on Friday with cultural and sporting events open to all. Of the At 9 p.m., a show of 800 luminous drones will set the sky alight. Kendji Girac, still hospitalized after a gunshot wound, had to cancel his planned concert on the Esplanade de la Major.
A relay throughout France. May 8 will mark the start of a long torch relay across France. The symbol of the Olympic Games will travel to more than 400 cities, crossing around sixty territories, including overseas, until its arrival in Paris on July 14. This relay will offer a dive into the history of France by highlighting major sites. The basin will then be installed in the Tuileries gardens, between the Louvre museum and Place de la Concorde, during the fortnight of the Games.
A multitude of personalities as flame bearers. Among the French celebrities who will take turns during this journey, we will find the starred chef Anne-Sophie Pic, the actor Jamel Debbouze, the singer and actor Patrick Bruel and the astronaut Thomas Pesquet. On the sports side, former footballer Jean-Pierre Papin, Olympic windsurfing champion Franck David, former Olympic medalist swimmer Fabien Gilot as well as handball player and triple Olympic champion Michaël Guigou will be there.