The Olympic flame strolls through the streets of Marseille this May 9, thanks to 180 bearers. While everyone is delighted, some athletes still have a bitter taste at not having been chosen to be part of it. This is the case of Joseph Mahmoud, silver medalist at the Los Angeles Olympics in 1984.
While the Olympic flame has begun its journey through the streets of Marseille, some former athletes, like Joseph Mahmoud, have a bitter taste at not being among the 180 bearers who carry the torch through the Marseille city.
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Joseph Mahmoud, silver medalist in the men’s 3,000 meters steeplechase at the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, talks about his anger at not having been selected to participate in the arrival of the Olympic flame in Marseille.
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Alongside Sabrina Soualmia, journalist at France 3 Provence-Alpes, Joseph Mahmoud looks back on his silver medal at the 1984 Los Angeles Olympic Games, which “shook up his life“. The same year, he beat the European record which will never be beaten only in 2002 by the Dutch Simon Vroemen.
The one who now trains marathon runner Benoît Zwierzchiewski does not understand why he is not one of the 180 bearers of the Olympic flame. “I am a child of Marseille and grew up in La Sauvagère, in the 10th arrondissement. I don’t understand because the president of COJOP has relays everywhere (…) and I have been forgotten, so I’m not going to say that I’m angry, but I’m disappointed. Disappointed because it’s a little forgetting what I did as a result (…) I tell myself it’s an event that happens every 100 years. Maybe in 100 years I’ll be called to carry the flame“, he quips
Problem, Joseph Mahmoud is elected to the City of Aubagne. And the regulations of the International Olympic Committee provide that elected officials cannot carry the Olympic flame.
It’s difficult for the former athlete to hide his disappointment, who regrets that the City did not mix personalities with athletes. “We try to pit athletes against personalities other than athletes. We had to create personalities with the athletes, it would have made a great message.”
They say that it’s the city that brings everyone together and there, we have had a bit of segregation.
Joseph Mahmoud, Olympic medalist athlete in 1984
He is not the only one to be surprised, Stéphane Diagana, a figure in French athletics, present on the France 3 Provence-Alpes set, is also. “I’m surprised to learn this, because for me it’s obvious“A blow really.”hard to take“for Joseph Mahmoud, who gave up on yesterday evening because he was so great”disgusted“.
An evening which attracted no less than 150,000 people to the Old Port, with a free concert by Alonzo – who took the opportunity to announce a concert at the Vélodrome stadium in July 2025 – and Soprano. In total, 320,000 people, according to the Marseille town hall, attended the arrival of the Olympic flame in the Marseille city.
