In total, 1,000 bearers will be responsible for circulating not one but 12 flames – a reference to the 12 days of the Games – scattered across France between August 25 and 28, the date of the opening ceremony at Place de la Concorde. “Unlike the Olympic flame, we will be able to see it in several places at the same time,” Delphine Moulin, director of Games celebrations, explained to the press a few days earlier.
If France will host the Paralympic Games for the first time next year, the very first edition of the Games – or at least its genesis – dates back to 1948, when the German neurologist Ludwig Guttmann decided to organize sporting events for veterans of the Second World War, left paraplegic and wheelchair-bound, at Stoke Mandeville Hospital in north London.
It is from here that the Paralympic flame will be lit before reaching France and Calais, via the Channel Tunnel on August 25.
12 flames
24 British athletes and para-athletes, launched into the tunnel – via a service road so as not to impede train traffic – will join 24 other French athletes halfway through to hand over the baton.
The exit from the tunnel, in Calais, will also mark the lighting of the 11 other flames across mainland France, with the aim of “connecting France” and “engaging as many French people as possible around the Paralympic torch relay”, explains the organization.
On the other hand, no passage through Corsica or the overseas territories, staging points for the Olympic flame. In total, during the four days of the journey – compared to 80 for the Olympic torch relay – around fifty cities will be crossed from Strasbourg to Lyon, via Lourdes or Rouen.
“We find half of the cities which were already in the Olympic torch relay but we have a new half which is entering the Paris 2024 ecosystem”, detailed Tony Estanguet, president of the organizing committee, during a conference of press Friday. For its part, the main flame, coming from England, will reach Ile-de-France via Arras, Amiens (Somme) and Chambly (Oise).
Strong symbols
All were chosen according to different criteria and in particular their commitment to inclusion through sport, or for their heritage and symbolism (the cathedral of Limoges, Strasbourg and the European Parliament).
“This moment of the torch relay should make it possible to create unity between the French and the Paralympic Games,” declared Marie-Amélie Le Fur, president of the French Paralympic and Sports Committee (CPSF), who recalled that it “was important “that this relay reflects the dynamism of our territory in favor of parasport”.
All the host cities will also be the venue for events with the holding of festivals and introductions to Paralympic sports. On August 27, 2024, on the eve of the opening of the Games, the flames will converge on Île-de-France before a final parade in Paris, where they will pass through several key locations in the capital such as Place de la République and City Hall.
The official announcement of the torch relay takes place 292 days before the Paralympic Games (August 28-September 8), which organizers hope will be successful, for the first time the Paralympics will be held in Europe since 2012 and London.
In total, 2.8 million tickets were put on sale on October 8, with the stated ambition of selling all of them.