He can say it: he is the only Montois in the world to have spent a whole night with the Olympic flame! That of the Olympic Games in Albertville, in 1992. “It was a great responsibility, breathe, thirty years later, Jean-Marc Duluc. Can you imagine if it had died out? »
1992 was a unique year. Before the Summer Olympics in Barcelona, the world was going to treat itself, as an aperitif, to a first international competition, from February 8 to 23, in Savoie. And as with any event of this kind, the Olympic flame – the one that lights the cauldron…
He can say it: he is the only Montois in the world to have spent a whole night with the Olympic flame! That of the Albertville Olympic Games, in 1992. “It was a great responsibility, breathe, thirty years later, Jean-Marc Duluc. Can you imagine if it had died out? »
1992 was a unique year. Before the Summer Olympics in Barcelona, the world was going to treat itself, as an aperitif, to a first international competition, from February 8 to 23, in Savoie. And as with any event of this kind, the Olympic flame – the one which lights the cauldron on the evening of the opening of the Games (1) – was invited almost everywhere in the territory. The site olympics.com refreshes some memories: “On December 14, 1991, the flame landed in Paris aboard a supersonic Concorde from Athens. The first bearer of the flame on French soil was Catherine Marsall, world cycling champion in 1990. In the evening, the flame arrived on the Champs-Élysées, where it was carried to the applause of 200,000 spectators. recalls the site.
In France, around 5,500 people took turns throughout the country to carry this flame. In the Landes, around a hundred have worn it. But only one to have watched over her for a night.
8,000 people in Mont-de-Marsan
“At the time, I was director of the municipal technical park. Philippe Labeyrie was the mayor. To welcome the flame to the Landes capital, the town hall in partnership with the Olympic Committee organized some festivities. I was responsible, with my team, for putting them in place,” remembers Jean-Marc Duluc, now retired and aged 70. On the menu: a sports evening at the Nahuques hall (with demonstration of badminton, archery, table tennis, etc.), a stop at the prefecture where the state representative at the time, Jacques Barthélemy, greeted the bearers, children and soldiers holding a mini-torch all along the route but also and above all a show in the stadium which was not yet called Boniface but Barbe-d’Or in 1992. “A show, in its and light, computer-assisted, which brought together 8,000 people”, we then wrote in the columns of the newspaper “Sud Ouest”. “There were still all the Christmas lights, the city was still a little festive,” recalls the retiree.
The flame was kept in a lantern.
Reproduction Philippe Salvat / “SOUTH WEST”
When night came, we had to keep this flame active. “I volunteered,” admits Jean-Marc Duluc. I was closest to the Olympic committee, so it was the easiest. I already had quite a few responsibilities with my position so I told myself one more or one less…” It was on the upper floor of the town hall, in the municipal council room, that the scene took place . “I locked myself in the room. I was afraid of a draft. I didn’t sleep a wink all night because for some reason I didn’t want it to go out. It must be said that these things only happen once in a lifetime,” he laughs today.
Deprived of flame in 2024
Fortunately, the municipal agent was able to benefit, at the time, from the help of Josette, the concierge of the town hall. “She had prepared a small meal for me. I was even treated to a glass of champagne. And in the morning, coffee and hot croissants. » A necessary comfort as the man generated some stress during this vigil. “I was next to a symbol. It was an important responsibility. I was even given a walkie-talkie – cell phones did not yet exist – so that I could contact the police station in the event of a problem,” he recalls.
During the passage of the Olympic flame in 1992, on the Sabres side.
Jacques Fauthoux / Reproduction Philippe Salvat / “Sud West”
In the early morning of January 20, the flame left as it had arrived. On the square in front of the town hall, Philippe Labeyrie poses with the porter. Jean-Marc Duluc went backstage, no doubt in a hurry to find some rest. He keeps a beautiful memory of that night, a newspaper clipping and “probably a few stamps given by the Olympic Committee on the occasion to thank me”.
On July 26, 2024, the Olympic Games will start in Paris. A colossal event and yet, the flame will pass neither through Mont-de-Marsan nor in the Landes. The Department did not want, in fact, to pay the bill – considered too high in these times of crisis – presented by the Organizing Committee of the Olympic Games: the latter demanded 180,000 euros to organize its visit to the territory. A little magic that flies away despite everything…
(1) Michel Platini and François-Cyrille Grange, a little boy of 9 years old at the time, were the last bearers of the Olympic flame and lit the cauldron.
2023-11-18 18:30:00
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