“The objective of this relay is to translate the slogan and the ambition of Paris 2024: Let’s open the Games wide. ” At 500 days, this Tuesday, March 14, from the start of the competition, the ambition of Vincent Pasquini, the head of international cooperation for Paris 2024, is displayed.
Created in 2021, the Terre de Jeux label aims to involve local communities in the Olympic movement. But it also cooperates with the embassies representing France abroad, such as on the occasion of the relay around the world.
“We want to open the ambition of the Games to the world level, to do something that we have never seen”, details Vincent Pasquini. This relay will start this Monday evening from New Zealand, at 9 p.m. It will end on Tuesday evening, at the same time, in French Polynesia. In the meantime, 116 overseas countries and territories will in turn pass the baton and organize sporting events on their lands.
Create a link with embassies
“More than 50 sports will be represented and more than 150 athletes, half of whom are Olympic, will participate, continues Vincent Pasquini. We want to give a global dimension to this relay in 24 hours. But the pivot of all this are the embassies. The event is organized in cooperation with the Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs. The goal of Terre de Jeux 2024 is also to develop sports diplomacy between international players.
“There was a first edition of the relay on April 6, 2022, with 40 embassies, explains the head of international cooperation. The fact that it was a success mobilized the athletes and the National Olympic Committees. We thought we would do it again, but after the success of the first one, it became obvious. »
Each embassy organizes its own event between 9 and 10 am in its time zone. In Paris, forty runners will set off on the banks of the Seine, between the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and that of Sports. Sports Minister Amélie Oudéa-Castéra will then hand over to Senegal and Ireland. “In France, the challenge is to highlight what is happening around the world without doing too much,” says Vincent Pasquini.
And the events are varied around the world. At the level of the chosen sports, on the one hand. But also thanks to the initiatives supported by certain countries. In Turkey, a solidarity run for the victims of the earthquake is planned. In Gabon, the theme is the preservation of forests and the ecosystem. “It is important that each event means something locally,” says Vincent Pasquini. Being part of this movement transcends. It must be a big party. »
“The before and after of sports diplomacy”
Several tens of thousands of people are expected to take part in the relay around the world. The festivities can be followed on social networks. “All handovers will be done virtually and each embassy will post during the day. Everything will be centralized, in the form of a large mosaic, on our site. »
And beyond the Paris 2024 deadline, Terre de Jeux’s mission is a long-term one. But will the label continue after the Olympics? “At the international level, not necessarily like that. But what is destined to last is a network of sports diplomacy. This is the legacy of Terre de Jeux: the before and after of sports diplomacy in France. »
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