Her Excellency Katerina Sakellaropoulou: With around 100 days to go before its start, the Olympic flame that will be burning for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games was ignited at the birthplace of the Games in Ancient Olympia, Greece on Tuesday during a traditional ceremony.
It then started its journey which will take it through Greece to France. After arriving in Marseille on May 8, it will travel across the entire country, and some French overseas territories, before reaching Paris for the opening ceremony on July 26.
Actress Mary Mina, in the role of an ancient Greek High Priestess, lit the torch using a backup flame instead of a concave mirror due to cloudy skies before the 2,500-year-old Temple of Hera, a goddess in ancient Greek mythology.
Amongst the dignitaries that attended the lighting of the flame included International Olympic Committee (IOC) President Thomas Bach and President of the Hellenic Republic, Her Excellency Katerina Sakellaropoulou.
The flame, which was kindled by the high priestess, along with an olive branch symbolising peace, was passed to the first torchbearer. This honour was given to Greek rower, Tokyo 2020 Olympic gold medallist Stefanos Douskos, who then passed it on to Laure Manaudou, the first French torchbearer on Greek soil and an Olympic champion at Athens 2004.
Approximately 600 torchbearers will carry the Olympic flame over some 5,000km across Greece, passing through dozens of cities and archaeological sites, according to the Hellenic Olympic Committee.
The flame will be handed over to the Paris 2024 organizers on April 26 at the Panathenaic Stadium in Athens, the venue of the first modern Olympics in 1896.
The following day, it will board Belem, a French three-masted vessel that was launched in 1896, at Piraeus port.