Paris 2024 Paralympic torch lighting ceremony: Paralympic torch starts festive tour of France following historic Channel Tunnel crossing

The Paralympic Torch Relay for the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games celebrated its first day on Sunday. After passing from Great Britain to France via the Channel Tunnel at midday, it multiplied into 12 Flames that shone around the country.

The Paralympic torch stepped on French soil around noon, heralding the imminent return of the Games to France! One day after the lighting ceremony in the English village of Stoke Mandeville, the cradle of the Paralympic Games, the torch made its way through the Channel Tunnel, getting the ball rolling on a new fortnight of celebration across France. Sponsored by Coca-Cola, Banque Populaire, and Caisse d'Epargne, the Paralympic Torch Relay embarked on its tour of the first 12 host cities along the perimeter of the country. The arrival of the torch reignited the popular fervour for the Games with just three days until the Paralympic Games Opening Ceremony.

A fraternal torch kiss under the English Channel dominates the return of the torch

The Paralympic torch set out from the English port town of Folkestone and dipped into the Channel Tunnel escorted by a guard of honour of 24 British torchbearers. Helene Raynsford and Gregor Ewan, who had lit the flame in Stoke Mandeville the day before, passed the torch to the captain of this team relay, Andrew Small, a Paralympic gold medallist in Tokyo 2020 and bronze winner in Rio 2016. Joining him on this undersea leg were the Para judoka Ian Rose and the Para canoeist Ian Marsden.

24 French torchbearers awaited their British counterparts halfway between France and England. Among them were Laura Mills, a great-granddaughter of Sir Ludwig Guttmann, the founder of the Paralympic movement and the inaugural Paralympic Games, and Ludivine Munos, a 12-time medallist in Para swimming. At the famed "Mid Point", the French team relay captain, Emmanuelle Assmann, a bronze medallist in Wheelchair fencing in Athens 2004, extracted the torch from its bespoke Louis Vuitton case for a torch kiss, representing the ties of friendship that bind the two countries.

The 24 French relay runners resumed their journey towards French shores, where Tony Estanguet, the President of Paris 2024, and Marie-Amélie Le Fur, the President of the French Paralympic and Sports Committee, stood ready to witness their historic arrival. Upon emerging from the tunnel in Calais, the flame split into 12 torches, spreading to the far corners of France to bring its magic to the French masses.

Twelve Paralympic torches light up the confines of France

The spirit of the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games now illuminates France thanks to these 12 torches. In Pas-de-Calais, the department where the torch first touched French soil, the relay blazed through the streets of Calais.

Other torches lit up the heart of Valenciennes in Nord and the architectural heritage of Rouen in Seine-Maritime. Further south, the torch hugged the Mediterranean coast in Antibes/Juan-les-Pins, in Alpes-Maritimes, as well as Place de la Comédie in Montpellier and the pilgrimage town of Lourdes, in Hautes-Pyrénées. In the west, the torches energised Place Napoléon in La-Roche-sur-Yon, Vendée, the harbour of Lorient in Morbihan and the shores of Saint-Malo in Ille-et-Vilaine. Finally, in the east, Amnéville Zoo in Moselle, the Council of Europe of Strasbourg, in the European Collectivity of Alsace, and the shores of Lake Geneva in Thonon-les-Bains, Haute-Savoie, all basked in the Paralympic glow.

Towns and cities came alive with the Torch Festival! This amazing celebration for locals featured a host of activities and para-sport taster sessions organised by local authorities and the French Paralympic Committee alongside the relay. The highlight of the day came when the crowds cheered as the final runner ignited the Cauldron in a jubilant atmosphere.

In a departure from the norm, a thirteenth torch sparkled in the French capital. This one took part in ceremonies commemorating the 80th anniversary of the Liberation of Paris in Place Denfert-Rochereau, where a team relay of five torchbearers representing the five towns and cities honoured as Companions of the Liberation, joined the festivities. Capping off this spectacular first day, the torch will visit the Rock en Seine festival tonight, blending music and sport as part of the Cultural Olympiad. Festival-goers can see the flame from 9:30 pm on the main stage, escorted by two torchbearers deeply rooted in French culture: the DJ Barbara Butch and the filmmaker Marjane Satrapi, alongside the Para judoka Hélios Latchoumanaya.

Young Para athletes burst onto the scene in Antibes

The French Paralympic Committee orchestrated a team relay featuring 24 young para-athletes in the streets of Antibes/Juan-Les-Pins. Celebrating youth and performance, this team relay showcased future stars of the French Paralympic team and inspiring ambassadors for the para-sport movement.

Captaining the relay was Mathilde Troude, a decorated Boccia athlete who is resilience and resolve made flesh. Alongside her were the Para swimmer Maëlys Dréan, a seven-time Global Games world champion; the Para skier Aurélie Richard, a Crystal Globe winner in downhill; and Arthur Bellitto, the fourth-best performer ever in the 800-metre category. The people of Antibes clapped as the captain and her team lit the Torch Festival Cauldron together.

Inspiring torchbearers and champions across the country

The inaugural day of the relay saw more than 360 Paralympic torchbearers traverse France. Among them were iconic Para swimmers such as Béatrice Hess (26 Paralympic medals) in Strasbourg, Raphaël Dutay (a multiple-time European champion and 2017 champion) in Antibes/Juan-les-Pins, and Charles Rozoy (a London 2012 Paralympic bronze medallist) in Saint-Malo. Olympic athletes also joined the relay, with the basketball player Romane Bernies, fresh from her silver medal win at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, lighting the cauldron in Montpellier. The snowboarder Paul-Henri De Le Rue (a Turin 2006 bronze medallist) carried the torch in Lourdes, where the FC Lourdes footballer Johana Vahe ignited the cauldron at the end of the day.

Other para-sport disciplines shone through today's torchbearers. Para athletics was represented by champions such as Heinrich Popow (seven Paralympic titles) and Michel Munsch (a four-time French champion), who lit the Cauldron in Amnéville. The Para table tennis stars Olivier Chateigner (a Sydney 2000 gold medallist and Athens 2004 silver medallist) and Edgar Empis ignited the Cauldrons in La-Roche-sur-Yon and Rouen, respectively. Para equestrian was also on the map, with Marie-Sarah Barré-Ruellan carrying the torch.

The Para sailing champion Damien Seguin received a rapturous reception in his home town of Lorient, which throws its weight behind sports inclusion. As the day drew to a close, Sylvain Malard, a former goalkeeper for the French national powerchair football team, lit the cauldron in Parc Jules Ferry.

The Boccia champion Dorian Decarme in Calais, the marathoner Roselyne Leleu in Valenciennes, the SC Schiltigheim Blind football player Lireille Loeffler in Strasbourg, the Para skier Denis Bardet in Thonon-les-Bains, and the president of the organisation Sport Adapté de la Côte d'Emeraude in Saint-Malo also lit the fire in their relay cities.

Tomorrow promises to be every bit as thrilling as each torch continues its journey through 14 new towns and cities. A perfect opportunity for more people in France to experience the excitement of the relay and the magic of the Paralympic Games!