101 days left until Paris – Olympic flame lit – Sport

The countdown to the Olympic Games in Paris began on Tuesday with the traditional lighting of the Olympic flame.

In a ceremony with a mix of staging and folklore, the fire was lit in the ruins of the 2,600-year-old Temple of Hera in ancient Olympia. Around 600 dignitaries were present at the ceremony, 101 days before the opening ceremony of the Summer Games. Greek President Katerina Sakellaropoulou and Thomas Bach, President of the International Olympic Committee, did the honors. Actresses took on the roles of ancient priestesses.

Bach described the Olympic flame as a “symbol of hope” given the tense world situation. The German highlighted the importance of the games in his speech: “In these difficult times in which we live, in which wars and conflicts are increasing, people are fed up with all the hatred, aggression and negative news that they are exposed to every day are.” People longed for something that would bring them together and one, Bach continued.

The long run of the torch

The torch will initially travel through Greece for 11 days and pass through the hands of around 600 bearers before being handed over to the organizers on April 26th in a ceremony at the Panathenaic Stadium in Athens, the site of the first modern Olympic Games in 1896 of Paris in 2024.

The next day, the three-masted ship “Belem” from the 19th century will transport the fire to Marseille, where the torch relay will continue after its planned arrival on French soil on May 8th – the fire will be permanently protected in a security bubble by around 100 police officers . 10,000 torchbearers will then carry the flame through 64 French territories before it takes center stage at the opening ceremony on the Seine on July 26th.