Under radiant sunshine, hundreds of boats parade off the coast of Marseille on Wednesday to mark the arrival of the Olympic flame in France. “There is pride, of course. It’s a beautiful harbor, it’s splendid and it’s preserved, so much the better,” says a fisherman at the microphone of Europe 1, his eyes full of stars. disembarkation is planned for the evening in the Old Port, in front of 150,000 people, 100 years after the last Summer Olympics in France.
The main information:
- The maritime parade for the arrival of the Olympic flame in Marseille began at 11 a.m.
- Florent Manaudou, Olympic swimming champion in 2012, will be the first bearer of the flame
- The Olympic cauldron will be lit for the first time at 7:45 p.m. in the Old Port
A free concert given in the Old Port
The Marseille artists Soprano and Alonzo are now giving a free concert in the Old Port in an atmosphere that could not be more festive.
Jul lights the cauldron!
It was ultimately the Marseille rapper who was responsible for lighting the cauldron! The artist was not initially part of the torchbearers. The Marseille artist received the Olympic torch from the hands of Paralympic athletics champion Nantenin Keita, daughter of Malian musician Salif Keita, who herself received it from Florent Manaudou. A new fireworks display is set off from the Old Port. “I am very proud to do this tonight. Thank you very much for thinking of me for this, I am very proud for France and for Marseille!”, reacted the rapper.
Florent Manaudou comes down from Belem
The Olympic flame is officially on French soil in front of palpable excitement and to the tune of “Parade”, the anthem of the Olympic Games. Florent Manaudou passes the flame to Marseille rapper Jul.
The Belem docks
The three-masted ship has just reached its mooring point. Florent Manaudou must go down there to begin the relay which will end in Paris on July 26, the date of the opening ceremony.
The Olympic rings designed by the French patrol
The alpha-jets of the French Patrol perform a magnificent aerial parade to reproduce the rings, the symbol of Olympism.
Fireworks set off in the Old Port
Fireworks, first in the blue and white colors of Marseille, then in the colors of France, are set off in the Old Port, just in front of the Belem which continues its route towards the mooring point. Meanwhile, the Marseillaise sounds, intoned by the tenor Naestro.
The Olympic flame lit
Florent Manaudou, first bearer of the Olympic flame, proudly holds the torch in his hands aboard the Belem, applauded by a huge crowd, gathered in the four corners of the Marseille city.
The Belem enters the Old Port
After a day of parade in the harbor of Marseille, the Belem entered the Old Port in front of a huge crowd. The South Winners, a famous group of supporters of Olympique de Marseille, deployed a huge tifo near the Mucem, at the entrance to the port.
A dream panorama
At the exit of the village of L’Estaque, located in the northwest of the city, the curious crowd to admire the Belem parade with a breathtaking view of the coastline. Alain came, equipped with his binoculars, so as not to miss a thing. “We see it well, we even see it very well. It is well surrounded, there are a multitude of small boats with, in the background, the lighthouse with a beautiful life, the beautiful sea and the Good Mother there in the background who looks at us.
© ARNOLD JEROCKI / GETTY IMAGES EUROPE / GETTY IMAGES VIA AFP
The Belem and its train of ships then headed for L’Estaque beach to follow the coastline fairly closely. “There, we can’t do better. He really pleases us, he comes in front of us, he parades, we enjoy the show. With all the boats behind, it looks like a ballet. No, it’s really magnificent”, says this Marseillaise who did not expect to see Belem so close. Many were present before 9 a.m., whether on the sea wall, on the beach or even on the side of the road.
© NICOLAS TUCAT / AFP
The Olympic cauldron will be lit at 7:45 p.m.
79 days before the opening ceremony of the Paris Games (July 26-August 11), the Belem arrived off the coast of France’s second city, sailing on the calm waves of the Mediterranean under a blue sky, noted an AFP journalist aboard a customs ship.
Florent Manaudou, first bearer of the flame
Florent Manaudou, Olympic swimming champion in 2012, will be the first bearer of the flame, who will land on a floating athletics track installed for the occasion. “It’s gone, finally! It’s the beginning”, summarized Tuesday evening Tony Estanguet, the president of the organizing committee for the Paris Olympics, Marseille, which has become “the center of the world”, as proudly displayed its mayor, Benoît Payan.
A billion viewers and 150,000 people on site, as well as some 1,500 accredited journalists from around the world, are expected to watch the flame land. “Before France, Marseille catches fire”, headline The Parisianthe only national daily to run its front page on “Olympic fever”.
The ship will enter the Old Port at 7 p.m.
For several days, to prepare for this first highlight of the pre-Olympic Games, work has been intense on the Old Port of Marseille, in the same Lacydon cove where Greek sailors who arrived 2,600 years ago founded Massalia. The 3,400 moored boats were all visited by mine clearance teams and their 80 dogs. And the giant letters MARSEILLE, installed at the northern entrance to the city, were illuminated in the colors of the Olympic rings, like the Opera or the Palais du Pharo.
At 7 p.m. (5:00 p.m. GMT), the ship will majestically enter the Old Port. In the presence of President Emmanuel Macron, he will be welcomed by a fireworks display of “recycled biodegradable confetti”, by the music of the Marseille Philharmonic Orchestra and by the essential “tifos”, these impressive banners of the supporters of the aptly named Olympic of Marseille, the city’s emblematic football club. Then the Olympic cauldron will be lit, Quai de la Fraternité, at the mouth of the famous Canebière. But the suspense persists around the identity of the person who will be responsible for this mission, who will perhaps not be Florent Manaudou.
Soprano and Alonzo will give a concert
Finally, a major concert by Marseille rappers Soprano and Alonzo will conclude this day which will also have been a security challenge, with more than 6,000 members of the police mobilized, including police officers from the elite Raid units or members of the nautical brigades. With the agents reporting to the town hall (firefighters, municipal police officers, etc.), the workforce will reach 8,500 people, more than those deployed in September 2023 for the visit of Pope Francis.
Monitored on land and at sea, the Marseille city will also be under an aerial “security bubble”, with an Awacs radar surveillance plane, three bursts, helicopters and an anti-drone device.
Not just happy people
The arrival of the flame in Marseille, however, does not only make people happy. As of Tuesday, five elected environmentalists from Marseille denounced “the distortion of the Olympic ideal”, in a column published on the website of Release. And several collectives have called for a festive demonstration in the city center on Wednesday, early in the afternoon, to “show that we can have a popular celebration in the name of sport, without exploiting, oppressing or destroying”.
On Thursday, the flame will again be in Marseille, where it will begin a 69-day journey across France, including mainland France and overseas. Arrival planned in Paris on July 26, the day of the opening ceremony, for the lighting of the Olympic cauldron. This long “relay of scouts”, which will pass through the castles of the Loire, the D-Day beaches and even Mont-Saint-Michel, will leave in the morning at Notre-Dame de la Garde, the “Good Mother” overlooking Marseille.
