Marseille: The Olympic flame arrived in France on Wednesday, where a highly choreographed ceremony with a crowd of 150,000 will be the first major test for organizers and security forces ahead of the 2024 Paris Games.
The landing of the torch in the southern port of Marseille will mark the start of a 12,000 kilometer (7,500 mile) torch relay across mainland France and across the country.
Organizers expect the first public screening of many “iconic” Olympics, just 79 days away, to cause an uproar over ticket prices and security concerns.
“This is something we’ve been waiting for,” committee chief Tony Estanguet told reporters Monday. One hundred years after the last game, the game comes home.”
When Paris begins on July 26, it will be the city’s first host in the first century, after previous editions in 1924 and 1900.
French aristocrat Pierre de Coubertin found himself at the center of the modern Olympic movement after reviving the game, which was invented by the Greeks in the 4th century BC.
After the Covid-hit edition in Tokyo in 2021 and the corruption-plagued Rio de Janeiro in 2016, the Paris Olympics are widely regarded as a milestone for sporting extravaganzas.
There will be public excitement on Wednesday evening after the torch is handed over to the Belem, a historic 19th-century French tall ship on a 12-day voyage from Greece.
“We will make it beautiful, grand, wise and accessible at the same time,” Marseille mayor Benoit Payan said before the ceremony, recalling how the Greek port city was founded by Greek traders in 600 BC.
More than 1,000 boats will accompany Belem’s approach to the port, and organizers expect around 150,000 people to wait for the fire to land on the beach of Marseille, which will host the Olympic sailing event.
The fireworks and free concert will be broadcast live on French television.
In the background, around 6,000 members of the security forces are expected to be deployed as part of the elaborate security arrangements that are on the highest terror alert in the country.
Four-time Olympic medalist Florent Manaudou will have the honor of being the first torchbearer.
Other stars scheduled to take part in Thursday’s parade in Marseille include NBA champion Tony Parker and footballer Didier Drogba, as well as charity and entertainment figures.
Tight security will be a constant feature as the torch passes through more than 450 French towns and cities, passing dozens of landmarks including Mont Saint-Michel.
About 200 security forces, including anti-terrorist SWAT teams and drone operations, are to be permanently stationed around it.
Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin highlighted the risk of protests from left-wing groups or environmental activists such as Extinction Rebellion.
If there are no security issues, the opening ceremony will be held on a boat on the Seine, away from previous games that opened in the main stadium.
All major infrastructure has been completed with only two permanent sports fields built to reduce the financial costs and carbon emissions of the global extravaganza.
The idea of a torch relay goes back to the ancient Olympics when the sacred flame was lit during the Games.
The Paris Olympics will take place from July 26 to August 11, followed by the Paralympic Games from August 28 to September 8.
