Paris Olympics 2024 torch lit in Olympia, torch relay to tour Greece before going to France
The Olympic torch will be on an 11-day relay across Greece before going to France for a 68-day relay
image for illustrative purpose
The customary torch for the Paris Olympics 2024 was lit in ancient Olympia, the site of the first Olympics, on Tuesday. The lighting of the torch marks the final stretch of preparations for the prestigious quadrennial Games.
Greek actor Mary Mina, playing the role of the high priestess, lit the torch using a backup flame instead of the symbolic parabolic mirror due to adverse weather conditions.
The Greek actor then lit the torch of Greece’s Olympic rowing champion, Stefanos Ntouskos, who was the first runner in the relay. The flame was then handed over to France’s three-time Olympic medallist in swimming and head of Paris’ Olympic torch relay, Laure Manaudou, as the representative of the host city.
The Olympic torch will be on an 11-day relay tour across Greece and will be handed over to the organisers of the Paris Olympics 2024 on April 26.
The torch will arrive in Marseille, France, on May 8 and the arrival ceremony is being planned to be a very grand affair with close to one and half lakh people in attendance.
The Olympic torch will then go on a relay tour across France for 68 days, and the tour will culminate in Paris on July 26, the day when the Olympics start.
Paris will be hosting the summer Olympics for the third time. The first time Paris played host to the Olympics was in 1900, and then in 1924, the city hosted the Games again.
Meanwhile, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) has allowed Russian and Belarusian athletes to compete at the Paris Olympics 2024 under a neutral flag. The athletes’ participation was in question due to the ongoing war in Ukraine, but the committee has agreed to allow the athletes to participate under a neutral flag with no anthem.
