A territory with the DNA of the Games!
The passage of the Flame in Moselle is an opportunity to recall the territory’s commitment to the life of the Paris 2024 Games. Moselle is in fact a territory labeled “Terre de Jeux 2024” and four of its sports facilities have been designated “Games preparation centers”. Seven foreign delegations, more than 360 athletes and their staff, will visit the department this summer to ensure their preparation before the Olympic and Paralympic Games. A way to demonstrate to what extent sport is a founding element of the DNA of the Mosellans. This is palpable on a daily basis with the diversity of sports equipment available and the success of high-level clubs like Metz Handball, the most successful club in team sport in France.
In Metz, table tennis in the spotlight
The city of Metz hosted the collective relay of the day organized by the French Table Tennis Federation. The discipline is on the rise and could bring back medals to the French delegation at the Paris 2024 Games. The location was not chosen at random: the Metz club has won the European Cup, played in the Champions League and won the title of French Pro A champion several times.
The captain of the relay was a figure of the discipline, Jean-Philippe Gatien. He is one of the most successful table tennis players in history, having won two medals at the Olympic Games (silver in Barcelona in 1992 and in Sydney in 2000) and was the world champion in singles (in 1993). Jean-Philippe was surrounded by 23 other table tennis enthusiasts and licensees, illustrating the many profiles that contribute to the vitality of this sport. There was table tennis player Pauline Chasselin, present at the Tokyo Games, international player Charlotte Lutz, referee Aurore Dussart, and two coaches of the discipline, Christian Martin and Jérôme Humbert.
Key figures, athletes and committed personalities
There were nearly 150 torchbearers who took turns throughout the day, including several renowned athletes such as footballer Sylvain Kastendeuch, a key figure for FC Metz in the 80s and 90s. He was able to rub shoulders with Michael Jeremiasz, a wheelchair tennis player who distinguished himself by winning four medals at the Beijing Paralympic Games (2008) and who was the French flagbearer in Rio in 2016.
Allison Pineau also took over the last relay. At 35, she has one of the finest records in French handball. A gold medallist at the last Games, she was crowned world champion (2017), European champion (2018) and has already been voted the best handball player in the world (2009). Lighting the cauldron in Metz is a strong symbol: she played for Metz from 2009 to 2012, a period during which Alisson won the French championship.
The people of Moselle were able to applaud two athletes who experienced the excitement of the Olympic Games: Sophie Villaume-Hubert in swimming and Patrick Moyses in handcycling in Beijing (2008) and Seoul (1988) respectively. The general public also encouraged athletes Marie-José Brunet (judo), Jean-Christophe Cour (sailing), Charles Muzzoli (gymnastics) and Pierre Grousselle (race walking). Two journalists had the honour of carrying the Olympic Flame: Géraldine Weber (Discovery channel), who offers an intimate portrait of an athlete each month, and Inès Lagdiri-Natasi, presenter at France Télévision.
These personalities may have encountered these more anonymous relayers who work on a daily basis to invest in helping others and promoting living together. This is the case of the president of Secours Populaire de Moselle, Marie-Françoise Thul, or of Ouarda Kebali who launched the “Woippy Olympic Fight” project. Twice a week it allows young people from a sensitive area of Metz to practice wrestling.
At the end of this great celebration in Moselle, the Olympic Flame took to the road again. Tomorrow, direction Haute-Marne, from Langres to Saint-Dizier. The opportunity to enjoy the forests and natural spaces of the department but also to discover its heritage, particularly in Nogent where it will pass in front of the fortified castle and in Colombey-les-Deux-Églises, a haven of peace for General de Gaulle.
