flame-bearing celebrities
Swimmer Florent Manaudou, Olympic champion in the 50m freestyle at the London Olympics, will be the first bearer of the flame in France; after the docking of the Belem at the end of a floating athletics track and before the lighting of the cauldron, around 7:40 p.m., in the presence of Emmanuel Macron. Zinédine Zidane will, according to our information, be responsible for lighting the cauldron. What the Cojo denies at this time.
The first stage of the torch relay, Thursday, will honor many celebrities: the former basketball player Tony Parkerex-swimmers Frédérick Bousquet and Fabien Gilot, former players of Olympique de Marseille Jean-Pierre Papin, Basile Boli, Eric Di Meco and Didier Drogba or the three-star Michelin chef Alexandre Mazzia.
In total, more than 10,000 porters will take turns for 69 days. During the Olympic Games, from July 26 to August 11, the basin which will host the flame will be installed in the Tuileries gardens.
The Olympic flame on the 19th century French three-masted ship Belem as the boat sails near the coast of Marseille in the Mediterranean Sea on May 8, 2024,
Image credit: NICOLAS TUCAT / AFP
