Paris 2024 Paralympic Games | Lighting at Stoke Mandeville, special format, 1,000 Pathfinders: all the information on the Paralympic Torch Relay

During the Paralympic Torch Relay, scheduled from 25 to 28 August, a thousand Pathfinders will be on deck to carry the Torch. With just a few days to go before it is lit, here's a look at everything you need to know.

The Paralympic Torch Relay, scheduled for 25 to 28 August, kicks off the return match for Paris 2024. "The Games are not over", said Michaël Aloïsio, Deputy CEO of the Organising Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games, at a digital press briefing on Monday afternoon, outlining the main features of the Torch Relay.

Although very concentrated in time, it promises to be innovative. It has a special format, with a flame that will be digitally multiplied into 12 as it enters France at Calais. This will be on 25 August, after crossing the Channel via the service road of the famous Channel Tunnel. 24 English porters will join 24 French porters at the Midpoint (the border between the two countries).

So, for four days, 12 Flames will be crossing the country simultaneously to cover all the regions of mainland France. "It's quite original to be able to cover so much territory in a Paralympic relay. We're expecting a lot of people and these will be important days for launching the Paralympic Games", Michaël Aloïsio added.

12 Flames that will light up France

So what does this figure of 12 Paralympic Flames represent? Quite simply, it refers to the 12 days of the first Summer Paralympic Games to be held in France: the 11 days of competitions from 29 August to 8 September, plus the opening ceremony on 28 August. In all, more than 50 towns and cities will be visited.

On 25 August, a thirteenth flame will be lit in Paris for two events: the commemoration of the 80th anniversary of the Liberation of Paris (5.55pm) with 5 torchbearers from the 5 communes declared Compagnons de la Libération by General de Gaulle and Rock en Seine (9.30pm) with 2 torchbearers on the festival's main stage.

In addition, two Paralympic venues will be crossed - the Vélodrome national de Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines on August 27 and the Invalides on August 28 - while a major Coca-Cola concert will take place on the evening of August 27 in Bobigny.

Lighting up at Stoke Mandeville

Daily celebrations will be held every evening on each of the 12 Paralympic Relay routes. Called Festivals of the Flame, they will bring together festivities in the heart of the host cities, with music, introductions to Paralympic sports and activities for the entire family. This is also where the Paralympic Cauldron will be lit at the end of the day.

Finally, on August 25, the whole story will be launched with the lighting of the Paralympic flame at midday in Stoke Mandeville (Great Britain), the birthplace of Paralympic sports. That same evening, the lantern will sleep in Folkestone, the last English town before the entrance to the Channel Tunnel. It is at this entrance that the first of the 1,000 Pathfinders will carry it.