France prepares to welcome the Olympic flame ahead of Paris 2024

There are just over three weeks before the Olympic flame is welcomed in Marseille on 8 May. After 100 years of waiting, the arrival of the flame on French soil will mark the start of three months of celebrations ahead of the Olympic Games Paris 2024.

There was plenty of emotion on 16 April 2024. During a traditional ceremony organised by the Hellenic Olympic Committee, the Olympic flame was brought to life at the archaeological site of Olympia. The ceremony saw the first French Torchbearer take to the stage to receive the lit Paris 2024 Torch from the very first Torchbearer, Greek rower Stefanos Douskos, Olympic champion at the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020.

“What an honour to be the first French Torchbearer,” said Laure Manaudou. “This is even more special for me as I have a strong connection with this country where my sporting career took a decisive turn. Carrying the flame on the soil of Olympia, the ancient origin of the Games, brings back many memories and emotions. I am very proud to have represented France at this flame lighting ceremony that marks the start of the countdown to the Games!”

“This Olympic flame will carry this Olympic spirit from here, our ancient roots, through all of France and finally to Paris – making the City of Light shine even brighter. The Olympic flame will shine over the first Olympic Games inspired by our Olympic Agenda reforms from start to finish. These Olympic Games will be younger, more inclusive, more urban, more sustainable. These will be the very first Olympic Games with full gender parity, because the IOC allocated exactly 50 per cent of the places to female and male athletes,” said IOC President Thomas Bach.

Here is everything you need to know about the flame arrival on the French soil, on Wednesday 8 May.

An historic celebration in Marseille on 8 May to kick-off celebrations in France

Carrying a message of unity and symbolising the unifying dimension of sport, the Olympic flame has begun its journey in Greece to pay tribute to the origins of the Games.

After departing from the port of Piraeus in Greece on 27 April, the Olympic flame will arrive in Marseille by sea, aboard the Belem, the three-masted ship of which Caisse d'Épargne is the main patron.

On 8 May, the Old Port will be decked out in the colours of the Games and will be buzzing to the rhythm of the many events planned for the occasion. Between 11:00 and 17:00 local, the Belem will parade in the southern and northern harbours, while workshops will be held along the coast: Provençal jousting workshops, a parade of around 30 Marseille barquettes, involvement of local rowing, kayaking and canoeing clubs, and the escorting of traditional sailing boats and dinghies by children - the nautical champions of tomorrow - in a loop of around 90 old-rigged boats.

The Belem will also be accompanied by an XXL armada: a total of 1,029 boats will escort the flame as it enters the Old Port.

To make it all the more spectacular, the Belem will be moored to a floating athletics track through which the first Torchbearer on French soil will pass. The cauldron will then be lit among the excitement in Marseille.

Celebrations open to all throughout France to experience the Games

France is hosting the Olympic Games for the first time in 100 years, and Paris 2024 wants to offer events to live up to this historic occasion! From 8 May until the close of the Paralympic Games on 8 September, 11,000 Forerunners of the Olympic Torch Relay, followed by those of the Paralympic Torch Relay, will criss-cross the country to spread the energy of the Games.

The two Torch Relays will be all about celebration and sharing, with five concerts organised with Coca-Cola for the Olympic Torch Relay and one for the Paralympic Torch Relay. A festival atmosphere will be created around the concerts, which will feature a unique cast of French-speaking artists, adored by the new generation and of different styles and genres, selected with the expertise of Coke Studio.

“France is ready to welcome the Olympic Games, a hundred years after the last summer edition on our soil," said Tony Estanguet, president of Paris 2024. “It is with great pride and honour that we will be hosting the Games of the XXXIII Olympiad in the country of Pierre de Coubertin, the founder of the modern Olympic Games, where we keep a very strong and special link with Olympism.

"After the first participation of women in the Games at Paris 1900 and the creation of the first Athletes' Village for Paris 1924, we are ready to write a new chapter in the great Olympic history with the third Games in Paris, France.

"We want to thank the IOC and Thomas Bach for the enduring help and support, all these years, which have allowed us to conceive and create Games that are not only spectacular, but also more responsible, notably from an environmental point of view, which will make them all the more exceptional. Together, we will organise great Games, and it starts today, with the Olympic Torch Relay!”

Celebrations will take place all over France with the party accessible to everyone. The Games map, an interactive map that will be online from 8 May on the official Games app, will enable everyone to identify the places celebrating the Olympic Games nearest them.

Facts and figures of the Paris 2024 Torch Relay

Olympic Torch Relay in Greece

• From 16 - 26 April
• 600 torchbearers
• 5,000km in 11 days
• 43 Greek municipalities

Olympic Torch Relay in France

• From 8 May to 26 July
• 10,000 torchbearers in France
• 69 days
• 65 territories including 6 overseas
• 7 June: Start of Relay across the Oceans in Brest aboard of Maxi Banque Populaire XI towards Antilles

Paralympic Torch Relay in France

• From 25 - 28 August
• 1,000 torchbearers
• 50 cities of all French Metropolitan regions

Schedule of the Olympic flame arrival in Marseille on 8 May

Olympic flame arrival (estimates, all times CET)

• 11:00 - 17:00: Olympic flame parade on the sea
• 19:00: Arrival of Belem in the Vieux-Port
• 19:45: Cauldron lighting

Cultural Schedule

• Château d’If: (La)Horde artist's group for an original adaptation of the show "Room with a view", performed on different levels of the château
• Lighthouse of the Île d'If: Visual installation by Miguel Chevalier, inspired by marine currents and biodiversity
• 20:30 - 23:30 on the Old Port: 'Exceptionnel' organised by Coca-Cola, official partner of the Torch Relay, with French stars Alonzo and Soprano, in front of 45,000 spectators