Paris 2024 torch lit in ancient Olympia, rally underway

Ancient Olympia: The torch of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games was lit in a traditional ceremony in Ancient Olympia on Tuesday, marking the final stage of seven years of preparations for the start of the Games on July 26.

Greek actress Mary Mina, playing the role of High Priestess, lit the torch for the start of the relay in Greece and France, due to overcast skies, using a backup flame instead of the parabolic mirror that is usually used.

It will culminate with the lighting of the Olympic flame in the French capital at the opening ceremony. Paris will host the Summer Olympics for the third time after 1900 and 1924.

“In the difficult times we are living through, wars and conflicts are on the rise, people are fed up with hatred, aggression and negative news,” said Thomas, president of the International Olympic Committee (IOC). Bach said in his speech.

“We long for something that brings us together, something that unites, something that gives us hope. The Olympic flame that we light today is a symbol of that hope.”

The IOC has cleared the way for Russian and Belarusian athletes to compete at the Olympics despite the ongoing war in Ukraine, but they will do so as neutral athletes without any national flag or anthem, a decision that angered Moscow. .

French President Emmanuel Macron also said last week that Russia would be asked to observe a ceasefire in Ukraine during the Paris Olympics. The Kremlin said Ukraine could use this as an opportunity to regroup and organize.

torch relay

The high priest then lit the torch to the first runner of the relay, Olympic rowing champion Stefanos Natouskos of Greece.

After a short run he handed the flame to Laure Manaudou, France’s three-time Olympic medalist in swimming and head of the Olympic torch relay for Paris, as representative of the host city.

On April 26, after an 11-day relay across Greece, the flame will be officially handed over to Paris Games organizers at the Panathenaic Stadium in Athens, the site of the first modern Games in 1896.

It will then depart for France the next day aboard the three-masted ship Belém, where it will arrive in Marseille on May 8, with 150,000 people expected to attend the ceremony in the southern city’s Old Port. Organizers said the last torch bearer in Marseille will climb to the roof of the Velodrome stadium on May 9.

Marseille, founded by Greek settlers from Phocaea around 600 BC, will host sailing competitions. The French torch relay will last 68 days and culminate in Paris with the lighting of the Olympic flame on July 26.