Thinking big for the Olympic Torch Relay in the Yvelines!
On Tuesday 23rd July, it was the turn of the Yvelines to welcome the Olympic Torch. The celebrations stretched over the entire area, from Rambouillet to Versailles! In total, 175 Torchbearers took it in turns to celebrate this exceptional day.
The highlights of the stage were a football collective relay led by Didier Deschamps in Clairefontaine, a golf collective relay at the club in Guyancourt with Patricia Meunier-Lebouc as captain and a stroll through the Château de Versailles palace, alongside actress, producer and activist Salma Hayek Pinault and French singer, actor and producer Patrick Bruel. At the end of the day, tennis player Caroline Garcia, who boasts 11 singles titles on the WTA circuit, lit the cauldron at the celebration venue in Versailles before the large crowds of spectators!
The Olympic Torch encounters the inhabitants of the Yvelines
The Olympic Torch Relay made its way through the Yvelines throughout Tuesday 23rd July to discover its many wonders. This area is often described as a microcosm of France with its historical and touristic sites, its picturesque villages and dynamic towns. It is also undisputably a land of sport, which buzzes to the rhythm of the international sporting events that it hosts, in golf or cycling, for example. The Château de Versailles is a veritable showcase for the Paris 2024 Games and in several days it will play host to the show jumping, dressage and eventing competitions in horse riding, as well as to four of the five components of the modern pentathlon, while the French National Golf Course in Guyancourt will welcome the Paris 2024 Games’ golf competition.
The day’s route was drawn up in close collaboration with all those involved in the day’s Olympic Torch Relay and endeavoured to demonstrate all the diversity of the Yvelines area. On Tuesday morning, it began with great pomp at the Château de Rambouillet castle, which has been the favourite residence of princes, kings and presidents for almost six centuries. The Olympic Torch Relay then headed for Clairefontaine and the French national football academy before visiting Les Mureaux, the Meulan-Les Mureaux intercommunal hospital centre and the Bécheville swimming pool. The next step took place in Mantes-la-Ville, setting off from the Halle Sulzer factory, which is being converted to soon house a university.
At noon, the Olympic Torch Relay headed towards one of Europe’s most prestigious golf courses: the National Golf Club in Guyancourt. After a few swings, the Olympic Torch was then taken to Poissy. After setting off from Villa Savoye, a major building in the history of 20th century architecture built by the famous architect Le Corbusier, the Olympic Torch Relay passed near to the Maison de Fer iron-built house, the toy museum and the Notre Dame collegiate church. Its route also took it to Saint-Rémy-lès-Chevreuse and the Coubertin Foundation before it headed to Saint-Germain-en-Laye and its famous palace, a former royal residence that is now the national archaeology museum.
At the end of the afternoon, the Olympic Torch Relay visited one of the finest gems of France’s heritage: the Château de Versailles, an iconic symbol known worldwide. The Olympic Torch lit up this monument brimming with history, which was the first place in France to be listed as UNESCO world heritage in 1979. After this unforgettable excursion, the Olympic Torch Relay continued on its way through the town of Versailles, crossing through the town centre to the celebration venue at the Madame Elisabeth estate.
A collective relay in the temple of French football!
The French national football academy in Clairefontaine, nicknamed “the temple” of French football, is the headquarters of the French national teams and a place where the demands of elite performance combine with thrills on a daily basis. This visit to Clairefontaine was an opportunity to pay tribute to this historic site visited by thousands of enthusiasts from all over the world.
The Olympic Torch Relay was granted a special visit because it was carried by the coach of the French men’s team, Didier Deschamps, a World Cup winner as a player (in 1998) and as a coach (in 2018). Alongside him were 23 players who help French football to shine: international players Marie-Laure Delie and Sandrine Soubeyrand, international referees Clément Turpin and Gabriel Henry as well as Jean-Claude Lemoult, one of the Olympic gold medallists at the Los Angeles Games in 1984.
Pride of place for golf also!
After football, it was golf’s turn to hold a collective relay. It was organised by the French Federation of Golf and took place at the National Golf Club in Guyancourt. The site is unique in that it is not only open to all amateur golfers but is also the venue for some of the biggest international competitions. Each year, its flagship course, the Albatross, renowned worldwide as an exceptional course, plays host to the men’s French Open. It hosted the Ryder Cup in 2018 and will be staging the golf competitions for the Paris 2024 Games.
The collective relay took place on this emblematic course and, alongside its captain Patricia Meunier-Lebouc, a winner of majors, it brought together the leading lights of French golf: Gwladys Nocera, who won 14 titles on the Ladies European Tour, Thomas Levet, who has won six titles on the European Tour, Jean Van de Veldre, a two times winner of the European Tour and Charles-Henry Quelin, a seven times French champion in para-golf. Also present were people involved in French golf on a daily basis: volunteers, referees, greenkeepers, instructors, etc.
175 torchbearers light up the Yvelines
Throughout the day, 175 lucky people had the honour of carrying the Olympic Torch, such as Japanese judoka Shohei Ono, a two times Olympic Champion in 2016 and 2020, French sprinter Bruno Marie-Rose, who won a bronze medal in the 4x100 metres relay in Seoul in 1988, or former footballer and Brazilian international player, Rai Souza Vieira de Oliveira, who won the World Cup in 1994 and distinguished himself in the colours of Paris-Saint Germain in the 1990s.
He was able to rub shoulders with 200 metres para-athlete and European Champion Alice Metais. Another major champion was the day’s last torchbearer: Caroline Garcia. The tennis player, who won 11 singles titles on the WTA tournament circuit and two doubles titles in the French Open at Roland-Garros, lit the cauldron at the prestigious celebration venue in Versailles.
Before her, the volume of the cheers went up a notch when it was the turn of Patrick Bruel, a very popular singer and actor in France, as well actress, producer and activist Salma Hayek Pinault to carry the Olympic Torch through the heart of the Château de Versailles.
Each day, many torchbearers from the general public with inspiring stories and commitments have taken part in the celebrations. Today, there was the first torchbearer, Charlotte Balicourt, who became chairwoman of her artistic swimming club with the mission of saving it, a feat which she accomplished, as well as Frédérique Martz, founder of the Women Safe & Children Institute, and Astrid Duberos, who actively takes part in charity events such as the Course des Lumières (race of the lights).
They are all a credit to the Olympic Torch, its values and the celebratory spirit that it transmits on a daily basis. Tomorrow, once again members of the general public will accompany celebrities, all driven by the same desire to take part in this wonderful moment of friendship and sharing. On Wednesday, the Olympic Torch Relay will visit the Hauts-de-Seine, to the delight of its 1.6 million inhabitants. With official sponsors Coca-Cola, Banque Populaire and Caisse d’Epargne, the Olympic Torch will be taken to Sceaux, Clamart and Rueil-Malmaison before heading to the celebration venue in Nanterre.