Olympic flame heading to Paris 2024 after lighting in Greece – – 2024-04-19 21:00:38

With 101 days remaining until the opening ceremony of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, the lighting of the Olympic flame took place in the city of Olympia, the scene where the first Ancient Olympic Games were held in the year 776 BC.

In a traditional ceremony, held in front of the ruins of the 2,600-year-old temple of Hera, the actress who played the High Priestess held the Olympic torch in the cauldron until it lit its flame. Once the Olympic fire was lit, the torch headed to the stadium, where the traditional dance performed at the Ancient Olympic Games was commissioned.

A detail that was confirmed during the day was that the ceremony had to take place this Monday and was broadcast live today, Tuesday, through the official platforms of the International Olympic Committee due to weather conditions, since the cloudy sky prevented the lighting with the rays of the sun as ancient tradition demands. This was confirmed by Nikos Aliagas, the French presenter, as confirmed by the newspaper Le Parisien.

In front of some 600 guests, and with the presence of relevant personalities from France such as the mayor of Paris Anne Hidalgo, the president of the Paris 2024 Organizing Committee Tony Estanguet, and the minister of Sports and Olympic Games of the host city Amélie Oudéa-Castéra , the Olympic anthem performed by opera singer Joyce DiDonato was sung. Immediately afterwards, it was time for the Marseillaise, which was accompanied by the raising of the French flag and followed by the Greek anthem and the flag of the iconic country in Olympic history.

Once the lighting of the flame was completed, the first bearer of the torch was the Greek Stefanos Ntouskos, Olympic rowing champion in Tokyo 2020, along with that he also took an olive branch, a symbol of peace. What’s more, at the same time, a dove took flight towards the sky of Olympia. The rower traveled a few meters until it was his turn to take the torch in the hands of Laure Manaudou, the Frenchwoman who won gold in swimming at the 2004 Athens Olympic Games.

“The Olympic Games are the only event that brings together the entire world in peaceful competition,” were the most notable words of the speech by Thomas Bach, president of the IOC. “They are making Olympic history,” added the German, who will be in charge of the entity that governs the destinies of the Olympic world until 2025, in relation to the task carried out by the organizing committee of the Games to promote sport in his country.

For his part, Tony Estanguet, visible face of Paris 2024, referred to the symbolic value that the torch has in the prelude to the beginning of the last process that will lead to the opening of the Olympic Games. “The flame has the power to reach the greatest number of people possible, throughout the territory,” said the former Olympic canoe slalom champion.

From now on, the flame will travel through Greece for 11 days before embarking on the Belem sailing ship, which will carry the Olympic fire across the Mediterranean Sea to Marseille. The arrival will be on May 8, the day that the torch relay will be launched, which will have 68 stages and will pass through French Polynesia.

On July 26, the date that is marked on the calendar as the day where the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games will be held, the Olympic torch will travel through the streets of Saint-Denis, passing through the Basilica of Saint-Denis (necropolis of numerous kings of France) and then through the Pleyel district, built around the central railway station that serves the entire east of the French capital.