One hundred years after the last Summer Olympics in France and 79 days before the Opening Ceremony of the “Paris 2024” Olympic Games, the Olympic Flame arrives today (8/5) with the legendary Belem Trident, in Marseille, where it will be lit for the first time carries the Olympic Altar.
“Marseille, the center of the world”, characteristically pointed out the mayor of Marseille, Benoit Payan, speaking to the French newspaper “La Provence”.
France’s second-largest city will be at the center of Olympic interest, with organizers estimating a billion viewers for Touch of the Altar in the Old Port (approx. 19:45), in addition to the 150,000 people expected on site and the approximately 1,500 accredited journalists from around the world.
For several days now, preparations have been taking place at a “feverish” pace in the Old Port and in the bay of Lacydona, where Greek sailors arrived 2,600 years ago and founded Marseille.
The first Torchbearer on French soil will be the French Olympic swimming champion, Florent Manodou, while the Old Port has been cleaned and carefully inspected. The 3,400 anchored vessels were visited by mine clearance teams and their 80 dogs. And the giant letters MARSEILLE, placed at the northern entrance of the city, were illuminated in the colors of the Olympic Circles, like the Opera or the Palais du Pharo.
Restaurants and hotels are full and even the weather looks good with bright sunshine. As for the wind, it will be well below 25 knots, allowing the sea parade – 1024 boats accompanying Belem to the north and then to the southern port of Marseille – to take place without difficulty.
At 19:00 (local time), the ship will enter the Old Port majestically, after 12 days of sailing since leaving Greece. In the presence of the President of the Republic Emmanuel Macron, the reception includes fireworks of “biodegradable recycled confetti”, to the music of the Marseille Philharmonic Orchestra and the impressive banners of the supporters of Marseille, the city’s flagship football club.
About 45 minutes later, the Olympic Altar will be lit on the Quai de la Fraternité, at the mouth of the famous Canebière. And suspense remains, as to the identity of the person who will be responsible for this mission, and who may not be Manodu.
Finally, a big concert by Marseille rappers Soprano and Alonzo will conclude this day, which is also a challenge for security, with more than 6,000 members of the police mobilized, including officers from the elite Raid units or members of the marine brigades. With agents reporting to city hall (firefighters, municipal police, etc.), the workforce will reach 8,500, more than deployed in September 2023 for Pope Francis’ visit.
“It is an extraordinary occasion, for an extraordinary event. We are in a unique occasion, in an unprecedented event, which will remain in the history of Marseille, which will mark the Olympic Games and France,” said the prefect, Pierre Édouard Collier.
Monitored from land and sea, the city of Marseille will also be under an aerial “security bubble”, with an AWACS radar surveillance plane, helicopters and an anti-drone device.
However, the arrival of the Olympic Flame in Marseille provoked the reaction of five elected environmentalists from the French metropolis, as they denounced “the perversion of the Olympic Ideal”, in an article published on the website of “Libération”. And several collectives have called for a celebratory demonstration in the center of Marseille today (8/5) in the early afternoon to “show that we can have a popular celebration in the name of sport, without exploitation, oppression or destruction”.
On Thursday (9/5), the Olympic Flame will be back in Marseille, where it will begin a 69-day journey across France, including mainland France and abroad, with arrival in Paris scheduled for July 26 , on the day of the Opening Ceremony of the Olympic Games, for the Touching of the Olympic Altar.
This great Torch Relay, which will pass by the Loire castles, the D-Day beaches and even Mont-Saint-Michel, will start in the morning from Notre-Dame de la Garde, while on Thursday afternoon (9 /5), after passing through the hands of Basile Bolly, Jean-Pierre Papin, Tony Parker and Soprano, the Olympic Flame will be lit on the Altar in front of the Stade Vélodrome, by the hands of Marseille legend Didier Drogba from the Coast Ivory.
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