The Olympic Torch lights up the roads of the Aisne

After two days of celebrations in the French capital, the Olympic Torch Relay hit the road again today to head to the Aisne. More than 110 torchbearers took it in turns on Wednesday 17th July to carry the Olympic Torch and put the spotlight on the area’s remarkable and preserved heritage and nature, from Château-Thierry to Saint-Quentin. The high point of the stage was a boxing collective relay and a celebratory end to the day in Saint-Quentin, where kickboxer Émilie Machut lit the cauldron at the celebration venue. The penultimate torchbearer, Félix Fievez, a 99-year-old sportsman, was also present to see the cauldron lit and share this moment with the crowds of spectators.

A touch of culture and history in the Aisne

Wednesday 17th July began in a poetic manner with a visit of Château-Thierry, the hometown of Jean de la Fontaine. In keeping with this theme of culture, the Olympic Torch was taken to Villers-Cotterêts, where the Cité Internationale de la Langue Française, a centre created to promote the French language, was inaugurated last October in the town’s 16th century mansion. At the end of the morning, it was the turn of one of the first French capitals of the Frankish era’s kingdom, Soissons, to be in the spotlight. The town boasts a wealth of medieval heritage, in particular the majestic Saint-Gervais-et-Saint-Protais cathedral, where the Olympic Torch Relay made a short halt before carrying on to Monampteuil, Axo’plage and its outdoor activities centre on the shores of the lake. This 40-hectare site offers a wide range of outdoor pursuits, a 300-metre-long beach and an aqua-park.

The convoy then headed to another unmissable location in the area, namely Laon. At the top of the hill in the town, nicknamed the “crowned mount” thanks to its 80 listed monuments, stands the Notre Dame de Laon cathedral, which is a masterpiece of Gothic architecture whose construction began in 1150. Following on with this historical theme, the Olympic Torch Relay continued to Guise and its fortified castle before arriving at Le Familistère, a complex designed by industrialist Jean-Baptiste André Godin to house his workers, which is today a listed historical monument. The day finished in Saint-Quentin, a city recognised for its architecture and history. The city is a veritable open-air museum and stands out thanks to its unique Art Deco façades and natural heritage. The Olympic Torch was taken on a stroll along the banks of the Etang de l’Isle water feature in the Champs Élysées park and through the Place du Marché.

Saint-Quentin weighs in to celebrate boxing

The French Federation of Boxing organised a collective relay for fans of the discipline in Saint-Quentin. The city’s boxing club, which is genuine local and national institution, owes its renown to emblematic figures such as the Thomas/Frénois family. This group of four men represented the French national team on several occasions and over several generations. The collective relay captain Jérôme Thomas, a bronze and then silver medallist at the Sydney and then Athens Games, led this relay alongside around twenty other torchbearers. Among them were his brothers Cyril Thomas, a French champion and then featherweight EBU European champion, as well as Guillaume and Philippe Frénois, also boxers and key figures in the city’s sporting scene.

Other faces from the sport were also represented, including Bernard Delarue, a former professional boxer and coach, for whom boxing is more than just a leisure activity and has become a veritable school of life. Morad Maizou and Marceau Pourrier, two professional boxers, were also present, as was Charlotte Bonneterre, a club official, sportswoman in Saint-Quentin and volunteer for the 2024 Paris Games.

Olympians, Paralympians and members of the general public carry the Torch

Clara Bastos was the first torchbearer on Wednesday morning in Château-Thierry. The schoolteacher, athletics enthusiast, pole vaulter and 100-metres hurdler at the town’s club kicked off proceedings just before 9 AM. Elite athletes also lit up the area throughout the day, especially in Soissons thanks to the presence of Erwann Le Pechoux, a foil swordsman, four times world champion and team Olympic champion alongside Maxime Pauty, Enzo Lefort and Julien Mertine. Para-triathlete Cédric Denuzière, who is French champion in the PTS3 category and who will be taking part in his first Paralympic Games in August in Paris, closed the celebrations in Laon in the middle of the afternoon. Armenian shooter Elmira Karapetyan, a pistol shooting world champion in 2023 in Brazil, carried the Olympic Torch in Villers-Cotterêts.

At the end of the day in Saint-Quentin, two sportspeople separated by almost 75 years carried out the last torch kiss before the cauldron was lit. On the cusp of his 100th birthday, Félix Fievez, a regional cross-country legend, the first veterans champion in the Aisne in 1977 and marathon Olympic champion in Melbourne in 1956, passed on the Olympic Torch to Émilie Machut, a member of the Frenck kickboxing committee and several times French champion as well as European champion, so that she could light the cauldron at the celebration venue. It was a wonderful image that showcased all the generations of sportspeople to bring this symbolic day to a close.

As on each day, many members of the general public with inspiring stories to tell took part in the celebrations. In Laon, there was Marie Delatour, French para-triathlon champion in the PTS4 category, and Julie Roggemoan, who plays in the women’s rugby championship and mixed league, as well as for the French police’s rugby team. Maxime Cattier was cheered on by the crowds in Monampteuil. This table tennis enthusiast is a coach for his club and does his very utmost to take the young people he trains to the very highest level. Jules Laporte, a forerunner in adapted rowing and French champion in the J16 event combining disabled and able-bodied athletes in 2023, carried the Olympic Torch in Saint-Quentin.

Tomorrow it will be Thursday 18th July, meaning it is the 60th stage of the Olympic Torch Relay’s tour of France. It will be stopping off in the Oise area, at the gateway to the Île-de-France region. The convoy will pass through Compiègne and in front of its mansion, a former royal and imperial residence, before heading to Beauvais for the celebrations at the end of the day.