Olympic Games Paris 2024

Meet the Olympic torchbearers of Paris 2024!

By William Imbo
4 min|
Paris 2024 Olympic Torch Relay

In May 2024, 11,000 torchbearers will form a relay to celebrate the arrival of the Olympic flame —and by association, the Games themselves —in France!

The flame will arrive in Marseille on 8 May after completing its voyage from Greece across the Mediterranean, where the first set of torchbearers will then receive the flame to start a new journey across France and its overseas departments and regions.

As we build up to the Opening Ceremony of Paris 2024 on 26 July, Olympics.com will profile a selection of the torchbearers each week, beginning with those chosen for the first five stages of the relay.

Stage 1 – Marseille: Dorothée Lombard

Dorothée, who is visually impaired, founded the charity La Luciole in 2004 to champion the full integration of disabled people into society. Among other initiatives, she runs in the La Nocturne race through Marseille, produces and presents the Handicap Tribune radio magazine, transcribes shows into braille and leads school workshops. She also organises "reading in the dark" events and helps create audio descriptions of films, proving that no challenge is too big for her!

Stage 2 – Var: Alexandre Martin

Alexandre, a teacher of adapted physical education in specialised institutions (special needs schools and therapeutic, educational, and pedagogic institutes), works throughout the year to promote sports participation among teenagers with mental and behavioural disabilities. He also focuses on building partnerships in the Var department and Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur to promote an open perspective and the inclusion of these young people.

Alexandre plans to give the young people he mentors an extraordinary experience by taking them to watch the Olympic Torch Relay up close along the route in Var.

Stage 3 – Alpes-de-Haute-Provence: Esther Baron

Esther Baron is a retired French swimmer who won three medals at the European championships during her career (two golds in 2006 in the 200m backstroke —long course and short course —and 200m backstroke silver in 2007). Holding an advanced state diploma in youth and popular sports education, she also serves as the patron of the charity Rêves, which fulfils the wishes of seriously ill children and teenagers and has already made 1,900 dreams come true.

Esther Baron of France celebrates winning the Woman's 200m Backstroke finals at the European Swimming Championships on August 1, 2006 in Budapest, Hungary.

Picture by Arpad Kuruc/2006 Getty Images

Stage 4 - Bouches-du-Rhône: Romain Peker-Goubin

Back in 2016, Romain was the No.1 ranked boxer in his weight class in France preparing for a national championship bout when disaster struck: a motorbike crash put his career in jeopardy and forced him to go under the knife sixteen times. Romain, who now lives with a disability, has said that the experience served as the catalyst for him to found Second Round — Se relever par le sport, a charity that assists disabled people by promoting public awareness, providing moral support and funding adapted sports equipment.

At the same time, Romain has been working for twelve years as the director of the Employers' Group for Integration and Qualification (GEIQ), which seeks to hire people who have been cut off from the job market by giving them training and enhanced support.

Stage 5 - Millau-Sète-Montpellier: Delphine Le Sausse

Delphine, a pharmacist by trade, has been a high-level athlete since 2007, earning a spot on the French national Para-waterskiing team after being a member of the French national Alpine skiing squad. A skiing accident at age 28 damaged her legs and left her partly paraplegic. Delphine bounced back and built a new future for herself in sport. She has won 16 world championship titles in her class and even set world records in the tricks and slalom events. Her dedication to disabled people also shines through in her role as the president of the charity Différente Comme Tout le Monde, which works to raise awareness about diversity and disability among pre-teen schoolchildren.

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