The Olympic torch flirts with the clouds in Hautes-Pyrénées
On the eve of a holiday, the crowds turned out in force to welcome the Olympic torch to the Hautes-Pyrénées. The pristine slices of nature of the department, with landscapes ranging from valleys and mountains, with plains in between, provided the backdrop for stage11. Banners and a wall of applause feted the Olympic torch on the road throughout Sunday, 19 May.
About a hundred relay runners took turns carrying the torch from the summit of the Pic du Midi de Bigorre and on a route leading to Lourdes, Bagnères-de-Bigorre, Lannemezan and the terminus in Tarbes. Sport was once again front and centre, with household names such as Céline Dumerc and Valérie Nicolas. The basketball player Isabelle Yacoubou lit the cauldron at the Usine Escalade in Tarbes to bring down the curtain on the stage.
The Olympic torch also paid a moving tribute to Bernard Lapasset, one of the leading minds behind the Paris 2024 project over the last decade. He co-chaired the Bid CommiDee with Tony Estanguet from 2015 to 2017 and became the Honorary President of the Organising CommiDee in 2018.
If this Olympic dream came true, it was in no small part thanks to his dedicaMon. Sport coloured every aspect of his life. He ushered in a new era in French and internaMonal rugby. EmoMons ran high as the Olympic torch paid visit to the Lapasset family home in Louit, held by his friend ÉMenne Thobois, who serves as the director general of Paris 2024, as well as his brother Philippe Lapasset, his daughter Isabelle Hélias and, last but not least, his grandchildren Arthur and Maëlys Lapasset.
The Olympic torch soars to unprecedented heights in the Hautes-Pyrénées
AUer climbing to the peak of the Canigó and exploring Peyrepertuse Castle, the Olympic torch flirted with the clouds at 2,876 metres above sea level, starMng the day at dizzying heights. Bernard Hinault, a French former cyclist and five-Mme Tour de France winner, and Nicolas Lopez, who clinched two medals in the Beijing Games, carried the Paris 2024 torch from the observatory perched atop the Pic du Midi de Bigorre. The region, known around the world as a treat for cyclists, is a magnet for amateurs and professionals alike, who are eager to reach the highest planetarium in Europe.
Hanging between heaven and earth, the sun rose on a unique panorama sprinkled with countless Pyrenean summits for over 300 kilometres. The torch then descended the Pic du Jer on a mountain bike before venturing into the streets of Lourdes, where centuries of history sMll make their influence felt. The town is known for the Sanctuary of Our Lady of Lourdes and for the millions of pilgrims who flock to Massabielle GroDo every year.
It then stopped to refresh itself on the shores of Arrêt-Darré Lake. Its visit to Gavarnie Cirque was another highlight of the stage, as this colossus of nature, surrounded by sixteen summits peaking at over 3,000 metres and home to the tallest waterfall in Europe, is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
117 torchbearers illuminate the Hautes-Pyrénées
Some of today's Olympic torchbearers stand out for their sporMng feats. Roxana Rocky Islas- Garcia Papin, the first relay runner in Bagnères-de-Bigorre, holds world records in two different sports, cycling and rowing. A few minutes later, she passed on the torch to the former Olympic athlete Sandra Forgues. Back when she went by Wilfrid Forgues, she claimed gold in the C2 event at the Atlanta Games in 1996, compeMng alongside Franck Adisson. Isabelle Yacoubou, a former basketball player capped 147 Mmes for France, lit the cauldron in Tarbes at the end of the day.
Other people who pour their hearts and souls into the local sports scene also got to wave at the crowds. David Adam was just a twinkle in his father's eye when the Olympic torch shone in his home town of Peyragudes on the occasion of the 1960 Winter Games in Grenoble. He has been a volunteer firefighter for sixteen years and also works as a ski instructor, insMlling in young people an enthusiasm for sports and the principles of respect. Dorian Blanquier has been mad about pushing the pedals since he was a child and now engages in compeMMve cycling.
Tarbes hosts the rock climbing team relay
The Olympic torch reached the end of the stage in Tarbes and shone a light on its architectural and urban gems, including the Romanesque Notre-Dame-de-la-Sède Cathedral and Parc Bel- Air. A stone's throw away, one of the biggest arMficial rock climbing walls in Europe hosted the rock climbing team relay, organised by the French FederaMon of Mountaineering and Climbing (FFME), the Usine Escalade. The 16-year-old Lila Samani captained the team relay.
This young athlete from Tarbes is a member of the French youth team and competes in her age category on the European circuit. Maena Issartel, who entered the French naMonal lead climbing championship in 2019 and 2023; Hervé Bullot, a volunteer with the FFME for two decades; Clément Ozun, a routeseDer and climber at the naMonal level; and Antoine Lacombe, a climbing instructor, helped Lila make this relay a massive success.
Following downpours in the Hautes-Pyrénées, the cauldron lighMng ceremony, which was originally scheduled to take place at the Les Forges car park in Tarbes, was moved indoors to the nearby Usine Escalade. The foul weather forced the organisers to come up with a plan B for the cauldron lighMng ceremony, but it failed to dampen the enthusiasm of the people of Tarbes, who came out in force to watch the Torch Relay wind its way around town!
Tomorrow, the Torch Relay will mark 100 days to go unMl the Paralympic Games on the roads of the Pyrénées-AtlanMques. It will set off from Biarritz and visit Anglet, Saint-Jean-de-Luz, Bayonne, Hasparren, Orthez and AreDe before calling it a day in Pau.