Day: May 9, 2024

The Olympic flame has arrived on French soil at the southern port city of Marseille amid tight security, 79 days before the opening ceremony of the Paris Games, the BBC reports.

After a 12-day trip from Greece on board the 128-year-old three-masted sailing ship Belem, the torch was carried on to land by France’s 2012 Olympic men’s 50m freestyle swimming champion Florent Manaudou.

It was handed to Paralympic track athlete Nantenin Keita, a 400m champion at Rio 2016, before Marseille-born French rapper Jul lit the Paris 2024 Olympic cauldron in front of an estimated crowd of 150,000 that included President Emmanuel Macron.

“It marks the end of preparations – the Games arrive in the life of the French people. The flame is here. We can be proud,” said Macron.

The Olympic flame relay will set off from the Mediterranean coastal city on Thursday and travel around France and to six overseas territories before arriving in Paris for the opening ceremony on 26 July.

A flotilla of more than 1,000 boats welcomed the Belem to Marseille.

The president of the Paris 2024 organising committee, Tony Estanguet, said Marseille was the “obvious choice” to host the boat parade given it is France’s oldest city and was founded by Greeks.