While the official stamp of the Paris 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games was unveiled on Tuesday March 26 at the Postal Museum in Paris, the French company honored three postal workers who will carry the Flame during its passage this summer in the territories.
From left to right, Léa, Carine and Antoine, who will carry the Flame this summer, and who pose in front of the official stamp of the Paris Olympics. ©David Savary
“This is another way of associating ourselves with the Olympic Games and the journey of the Flame which is extremely symbolic” indicates Philippe Wahl, CEO of the La Poste group.
Of the “240,000 postal workers in the world, 200,000 in France”, 140 will therefore have the privilege of carrying the Olympic Flame. During the unveiling of the official stamp of the Olympic and Paralympic Games in Paris (see below), three were honored.
Carine, Léa and Antoine say they are extremely proud to have seen their application selected. In total, 12,800 employees of the La Poste group submitted a file. “We had to answer questions then send a cover letter” summarizes Carine, who came specially from Vannes in Morbihan. A draw then designated the 140 postal carriers.
140 postal workers spread across the entire territory
Carine will carry the Flame on June 1st in the Ille-et-Vilaine department. She will know where exactly next month. Coming from Provins in Seine-et-Marne, Léa will carry out a relay on June 30 in the Marne. As for Antoineliving in Douai in the North, it is in Pas-de-Calais that he will carry the Flame on July 3. “I’m happy” simply declares the young man, passionate about sport and “inspired by champions like Tony Estanguet or Teddy Riner”.
“I hope you will enjoy this moment which is quite magical” declared the president of Paris 2024. Tony Estanguet who also reminded that from April 16, and as tradition dictates, the Flame will be lit again in Olympia. “She will return to our country on May 8 in Marseille to meet millions of French people, i.e. 69 days of celebrations until July 26 where the cauldron will be lit in Paris for the opening ceremony.
A stamp highlighting iconic places in Paris
Tony Estanguet, president of Paris 2024, Amélie Oudéa-Castéra, Minister of Sports and the Olympic and Paralympic Games, and Philippe Wahl, president and CEO of the La Poste group, during the unveiling of the official stamp for the Paris Olympics this summer. ©David Savary
Issued in 800,000 copiesthe official stamp of the Paris 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games will be marketed from April 5. Unveiled in the presence of Amélie Oudéa-Castéra, Minister of Sports and the Olympic and Paralympic Games, Tony Estanguet, President of Paris 2024 and Philippe Wahl, Chairman and CEO of the La Poste group, this one comes to celebrate Olympism within the City of Lights. A century after the 1924 Summer Olympics.
This official stamp highlights iconic places that make Paris famous throughout the world: the Eiffel Tower and the Seine. These include sport: from athletics tracks to ball bounces. “It has exceptional finishes with hot gilding which illuminate Paris and sport” underlines the La Poste group.
“Mixture of beauty, softness and roundness”
“It’s a mixture of beauty and softness, an art-deco look with real roundness,” underlines Amélie Oudéa-Castéra. A stamp which is also reminiscent of the outfit which will be worn by the 45,000 Volunteers and which has also just been revealed.
Excited by this stamp, the Minister of Sports and the Olympic and Paralympic Games also wishes to underline “its symbolic significance”. “A stamp, there is an attachment, a message that a nation sends to itself for all its territories. Like all those who will be crossed, embarked in the Flame Relay which will circulate through 450 cities in France” she declared.
Without forgetting, continued the minister, that it is also “a message that we all send together to the whole world”. Its face value of 1.96 euros (i.e. the price of the international stamp for a 20-gram piece of mail) thus makes it possible to “send your missives throughout the world” and to “to promote Paris throughout the world” as Philippe Wahl recalled.
Stamps have celebrated Olympic sport since the first Games in 1896
From 1896 and the Athens Games, considered the first Games of the modern era, philately and Olympicism are linked, expressing the essence of the Games through the art of stamps. During this event, several million stamps were issued. The engraving was entrusted to the French artist Louis-Eugène Mouchon (the same one who is at the origin of the first Sower on a stamp) and printing at the postage stamp workshop, boulevard Brune, in Paris.
The 8th edition of the Olympic Games, in Paris in 1924was an opportunity for France to show the world that it was a great nation. The first “special stamp” dedicated to the Games and of limited validity, appeared. It was the first time that a stamp came to announce an event, thus inaugurating an emblematic tradition.
This alliance between philately and the Olympics has endured. Each edition of the Olympic Games being commemorated by official stamps, silent but powerful witnesses to history and the Olympic spirit. From the Winter Olympic Games in Grenoble in 1968 to those in Albertville in 1992, La Poste paid tribute to the athletes and the magic of the Games, offering collectors and enthusiasts a window on this precious and inspiring heritage.
In 2017, La Poste issued an official stamp to celebrate Paris’s candidacy to host the 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games.. It includes the signature of the Bid Committee “Come and share”, the Paris 2024 logo, and a visual of the Grand Palais which will host the fencing and taekwondo events.
In 2024, La Poste is once again there to ensure, through the official stamp, its role as guardian of history, thus perpetuating the tradition with pride.
“It is an honor for the Post Office and the postal workers to accompany us in this historic moment,” summarized Philippe Wahl when revealing the official stamp for the Paris 2024 Games.
