2023-11-22 21:35:27
Lit in Olympia, cradle of the Ancient Games, on April 16, the Paris 2024 Olympic flame will cross Greece for eleven days before boarding the “White” to reach France.
Tokyo 2020 Olympic flame lighting ceremony, March 12, 2020 in Olympia, Greece (Credits – IOC / Greg Martin)
Less than 250 days before the opening of the Paris 2024 Summer Games, while the Olympic Torch Relay has already been presented for the French part, between crossing the metropolis and stopovers in Overseas, Greece revealed, this Wednesday, November 22, 2023, the route of the said flame on its territory.
In the presence of the French Ambassador, Laurence Auer, the Hellenic Olympic Committee (HOC), through its President, Spyros Capralos, detailed the terms of welcoming the flame following the lighting of the latter in Olympia, on April 16, 2024.
That day, Stéfanos Doúskos, 26 years old, Olympic rowing champion at the Tokyo 2020 Games, will be the first of 600 torchbearers announced on a course of more than 5,000 kilometers in 11 days through 41 municipalities.
On April 26, 2024, the flame will approach the Panathenaic Stadium in Athens – the flagship site of the renovation of the Games at the end of the 19th century – accompanied by members of the men’s national water polo team, silver medalists at the 2020 Olympic Games, led by Ioannis Fountoulis.
The route through Greek territory was worked according to four major objectives, which are the coverage of the country as a whole, the promotion of world-renowned archaeological sites, the development of emblematic landscapes, but also the promotion of the historical link uniting Greece and France.
As Spyros Capralos explained:
The Hellenic Olympic Committee is once once more ready to carry out this important mission. In this way, we present our country to the whole world in the best possible way, and remember that the Olympic Games were born in our homeland and that we, young Greeks, remain the worthy guardians of this heavy heritage.
But what is even more important for us are the very special messages that the Olympic flame conveys. Especially at a time when wars are breaking out in many parts of the world. In such a period, it is peace, cooperation, noble rivalry, the ideals of Olympism that can rekindle the flame of hope.
From left to right, Yannis Vroutsis, Greek Minister of Sports; Laurence Auer, Ambassador of France to Greece; and Spyros Capralos, President of the Hellenic Olympic Committee, Wednesday November 22, 2023 in Athens, Greece (Credits – Marcos Houzouris / Eurokinissi)
In detail, the Olympic flame will first be visible in Olympia, before reaching Western Greece and the Peloponnese, successively with Amaliáda, the ancient site of Ilida, Gastoúni, Pyrgos, Zacháro, Filiatrá, and finally Pýlos at dusk of the night of 16 avril.
On the second day, either 17 avril 2024the relay will set off from Pýlos towards Methóni, Koróni, Tripoli, in the center of the Peloponnese, then towards Mycenae, Nafplio, and Piraeus where the flame will board a boat to connect to Crete.
The 18 avrilthe flame will dock on the island of Kastellórizo, before leaving for Ágios Nikólaos, then the ancient site of Knossos and Heraklion, before reaching Rethymno and the port city of Chania.
The fourth day of the relay – the 19 avril 2024 – promises to be particularly rich, with successively in the Aegean Sea, a stopover via Santorini, Naxos and Paros, to finally reach Athens with an expected nighttime arrival on the famous Acropolis overlooking the Greek capital.
For the following two days, i.e. 20 et 21 avril, Central Greece and Thessaly will be in the spotlight, with Delphi, Lamía, then Vólos, but also Larissa, Tríkala and finally Meteora, a natural site listed as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO. In the evening, the Games flame will be visible near Thessaloniki, the country’s second city following Athens.
The ancient theater of Philippi, the town of Kavála, Xánthi, Komotiní, and Alexandroupoli will be crossed on 22 avril 2024while the 23 avril, the announced stages will lead the flame to Eleftheroúpoli, Véria, Vergína and Ioannina. Two days which will highlight the north of Greece, from Eastern Macedonia to Western Macedonia via Central Macedonia.
The 24 avrilIgoumenítsa and the island of Corfu will be there for the torch relay before it leaves, the 25 avriltowards Missolonghi, then crossing the Rion-Antirion bridge – as a nod to the 2004 Olympics which marked the inauguration of the nearly 2,900 meter long structure – then a passage through Patras before a night arrival in Corinth.
Finally, during the eleventh day, the 26 avril 2024the Olympic flame will be present in Megara, in Marathon, at Cape Sounion, before reaching Athens and the Panathenaic Stadium.
Tokyo 2020 Olympic Torch Handover Ceremony, Thursday March 19, 2020, at the Panathenaic Stadium in Athens, Greece (Credits – Tokyo 2020)
Once at the heart of the famous setting, the torch will be passed on between Spyros Capralos and the bearer(s) chosen by the Organizing Committee for the Paris 2024 Games.
The tricolor body will then take possession of the flame which will leave Greece aboard the three-masted ship, the “White”on April 27, for a crossing of the Mediterranean and an arrival with fanfare in the “Old Port” from Marseille (Bouches-du-Rhône), May 8, 2024.
From this date, and until July 26, 2024, some 10,000 “Scouts” will make a journey through France.
During 68 days of relay, 64 territories will be covered, with more than 400 towns crossed.
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