5 notable moments of the arrival of the flame in Marseille | EUROtoday

Published on : 08/05/2024 – 22:51

5 minutes

A day designed to launch the Olympic Games in France. This was the wager of the organizing committee for the 2024 Olympic Games. A profitable wager in view of the enjoyment which presided over the arrival of the flame on French territory, in Marseille.

According to town's mayor, Benoït Payan, 150,000 individuals gathered within the Old Port to expertise this second.

Read additionallyFollow the 2024 Olympics on France 24

France 24 brings you again to life in photos the 5 most vital moments of the day earlier than the flame begins its relay on Thursday by means of 400 cities in France for an arrival scheduled for July 26 in Paris for the opening ceremony

The Belem nautical parade

Under radiant sunshine, the Olympic flame first carried out a grandiose maritime parade within the harbor of Marseille, accompanied by 1,024 different ships. A fantastic second of celebration to the sound of foghorns and different sirens.

“It was just great. We took advantage and learned lots of things about boats… And the Belem!” enthuses Yassmina Ahmada Ibouroi, a 16-year-old highschool scholar who was capable of expertise the parade of the inside.

Read additionallyOlympic Games 2024: “In this parade, we had a symbol of the past, Belem, and young people, therefore the future”

The tifo of OM supporters

In Marseille, there are two religions: soccer and OM. Nine months after deploying an enormous tifo – a visible animation based mostly on painted tarpaulins usually organized by supporters of a soccer group – in honor of the arrival of Pope Francis within the Marseille metropolis, the membership's supporters did it once more for the arrival of the flame.

Their know-how was exhibited on the monuments seen on the entrance to the Old Port with 4 tarpaulins, three horizontal and one vertical, deployed on the Saint-Jean and Ganteaume forts, on the King René tower and on the Saint-Victor Abbey. The largest is 160 meters lengthy, the colours white and sky blue dominate and evoke the hyperlinks between Marseille and Greece.

The arrival of the Belem within the Old Port

After twelve days of navigation, the Belem lastly reached its vacation spot with its treasured cargo. His entry into the Old Port of Marseille was greeted by a compact crowd to the sound of solemn music sung by the Marseille Philharmonic, but additionally smoke bombs. The consequence: a timeless second for all spectators.

The French patrol on the celebration

An important a part of the French celebrations, the French patrol carried out an air present for the arrival of the Belem. The planes drew the Olympic rings within the Marseille sky in breathtaking synchronization then the pilots made a number of passes over the Old Port to paint the sky in blue, white and purple.

Jul, essentially the most Marseillais of rappers, lights the primary cauldron

There remained a thriller about this ceremony: who can be chosen to mild the cauldron the place the flame will relaxation for its first night time in France? Unsurprisingly, it was Florent Manaudou, Olympic swimming champion in 2012 in London, who was the primary torchbearer on French soil to the applause of an imposing crowd.

After just a few steps on a floating pontoon within the form of an athletics monitor, the Marseille swimmer then handed the primary baton to Paralympic athletics champion Nantenin Keita, the daughter of the well-known Malian musician Salif Keita.

Then Nantenin Keita transmitted it to a 3rd character, dressed completely in white and hooded. In entrance of the Olympic cauldron, the shock visitor then revealed himself: and it was Jul, a 34-year-old rapper from Marseille, who had the honour of lighting the Olympic fireplace for the night time.

A selection which sparked debate among the many public and summed up by Ali, encountered within the crowd after the ceremony: “Jul, that's good. My son is listening and it's Marseille. But it's not Zinedine Zidane”, that the rumor had been anticipated.