The Olympic flame for the Paris Olympics was lit on Tuesday midday at the Olympia site in Greece, some 100 days before the opening ceremony on July 26. The flame was then transported to the ancient stadium of Hestadia to be entrusted to the first torchbearer, the Greek Olympic rowing champion Stefanos Ntouskos, who passed it on to former swimmer Laure Manaudou, the first French torchbearer.
Published on: 04/16/2024 – 12:20
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The flame for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games was lit by Greek actress Mary Mina on Tuesday April 16, 101 days before the opening ceremony, in front of the 2,600-year-old ruins of the Temple of Hera, in the Cradle of Olympism.
Embodying a high priestess of the goddess, she lit the flame in the presence of the president of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) Thomas Bach and the president of Paris 2024 Tony Estanguet.
Due to the cloudy sky, the parabolic mirror initially intended to light the flame using the sun’s rays could not be used.
“A force of inspiration”
“In these difficult times, where wars and conflicts are increasing, people have had enough of hatred,” said Thomas Bach in a short speech in Olympia. “In all of our hearts, we long for something that brings us together again, something that unifies us, something that gives us hope,” he added. “The Olympic flame that we are lighting today symbolizes this hope,” the German also assured.
The president of the organizing committee for the Paris Olympics, Tony Estanguet, also saw in these Olympics “more than ever a force of inspiration […] for all of us and for future generations” while the world is shaken by crises.
The flame was then transported to the ancient Hestadia stadium to be transmitted to the first torchbearer, Greek Olympic rowing champion Stefanos Ntouskos, who passed it on to former swimmer Laure Manaudou, the first French torchbearer.
#Paris2024 | “When I was asked to do it here, I said yes straight away!”
🇫🇷 @franceinfo collected Laure’s impressions @Manaudou after his stint. This moment was very special for the Frenchwoman, 20 years after her Olympic coronation in Athens 🎙 pic.twitter.com/HoiGurRtIi
— francetvsport (@francetvsport) April 16, 2024
Read alsoOJ 2024: from Marseille to Paris, discover the journey of the Olympic flame
In Greece, 600 torchbearers will transmit the flame, which will travel 5,000 kilometers across seven Greek islands, ten archaeological sites and the rock of the Acropolis, where it will burn for one night next to the Parthenon.
In the Greek port of Piraeus, the flame will board the three-masted Belem on April 26, which will reach Marseille, in the south-east of France, on May 8. The symbol of the Olympic Games will then cross all of France, passing through the Antilles and French Polynesia.
With AFP and Reuters
