The sacred flame of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games was lit Tuesday in Olympia, Greece, birthplace of the ancient Games, in a ceremony inspired by antiquity and marked by messages of hope amid multiple global crises.
“In ancient times, the Olympic Games brought the Greek city-states together, even – and especially – in times of war and conflict,” said International Olympic Committee President Thomas Bach.
“Today, the Olympic Games are the only event that brings the entire world together in peaceful competition. Then and now, Olympic athletes are sending this powerful message: yes, it is possible to compete fiercely against each other and at the same time live together in peace under one roof,” he said.
Due to cloudy weather, Greek actresses playing ancient priestesses used a lit flame Monday during a rehearsal at the 2,600-year-old Temple of Hera, near the stadium where the Olympic Games were born in 776 BC.
Carrying the flame in a pot, Greek actress Mary Mina lit the torch for the first bearer, 2020 Olympic rowing champion Stefanos Ntouskos.
Retired French swimmer Laure Manaudou, who won her first gold medal at the 2004 Athens Olympics, followed as the first French torchbearer at Olympia.
“Inclusive” games
Officials stressed on Tuesday that the Paris Games would set new milestones, following on from the two previous Olympic Games held in the French capital.
“The Olympic flame will burn from start to finish on the first Olympic Games inspired by the reforms of our Olympic Agenda,” Bach said.
“These Olympic Games will be younger, more inclusive, more urban, more sustainable. These will be the first-ever Olympic Games with full gender parity, as the IOC has allocated exactly 50 percent of the places to female and male athletes,” he said.
Tony Estanguet, chief organizer of the Paris Olympics, highlighted that for the first time women participated in the 1900 Paris Games, while the first Olympic village was created for the 2024 Paris Games.
For the first time since the Covid-19 pandemic forced toned-down events for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics and 2022 Beijing Winter Games, the ceremony was back with full regalia and large spectators.
Greek President Katerina Sakellaropoulou, French Sports Minister Amélie Oudea-Castera and Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo were present at the ceremony.
American mezzo-soprano Joyce DiDonato sang the Olympic anthem.
The torch recalls the ancient Olympic Games, when a sacred flame burned throughout the Games. The tradition was revived in 1936 for the Berlin Games.
During this 11-day relay on Greek soil, some 600 torchbearers will carry the flame over a distance of 5,000 kilometers (3,100 miles) through 41 municipalities.
Security issues
The Olympic flame will be handed over to Paris 2024 organizers during a ceremony at the marble Panathenaic Stadium, site of the first modern Olympic Games in 1896, on April 26.
Nana Mouskouri, the world-famous 89-year-old Greek singer, was invited to perform at the ceremony.
On April 27, the flame will begin its journey to France aboard the 19th-century three-masted barque Belem, launched just weeks after the 1896 Athens Games.
A French historic monument, the Belem made commercial voyages to Brazil, Guyana and the Caribbean for almost two decades.
The last three-masted steel-hulled ship in France, it should arrive in Marseille on May 8.
Ten thousand torchbearers will then carry the flame across 64 French territories.
It will pass 400 cities and dozens of tourist attractions during its 12,000-kilometer (7,500-mile) journey through mainland France and French overseas territories in the Caribbean, Indian Ocean and Pacific .
On July 26, it will be the centerpiece of the opening ceremony of the Paris Olympic Games.
The ceremony is expected to take place on the Seine – the first time it has not taken place in the main Games stadium.
However, French President Emmanuel Macron said on Monday it could be moved to the national stadium if there was a security threat.
Macron said that instead of teams sailing down the Seine on barges, the ceremony could be “limited to the Trocadéro building” on the other side of the Eiffel Tower or “even moved to the Stade de France.”
