The image would almost make you smile. Benoît Payan with arms raised in front of Marseille town hall, alongside football star Didier Drogba, surrounded by kids in sky blue Olympique de Marseille jerseys. This Thursday, May 9 of the Olympic torch relay, the various left mayor, flanked by his two main deputies, Michèle Rubirola and Samia Ghali, raises his arms to the sky, as if he had just won an electoral victory. There is a bit of that: as during the welcome of Pope Francis, in September 2023, it captured most of the light of the first ceremonies of the world event.
For two days, the chosen one displayed a permanent smile. It was his moment and he intended to take advantage of it. “I’m enjoying it”he confirmed on Thursday, on the second day of the Olympic festivities, where we saw him everywhere on the torchbearers’ route, greeting, taking selfies, shaking hands, kissing when the public, stuck to the barriers , calls out to him “Mr. Payan” Or ” Mr. Mayor “.
Before posing with comedian Nicole Ferroni in front of the Palais du Pharo, he slips: “We wake up from an incredible event with the arrival of the flame. And today we have magnificent torchbearers! » “It’s Payan who will pull the chestnuts out of the fire”notes one of the members of his cabinet. “He emerges in an institutionally strong position”comments a municipal ecologist.
At the end of the day, on the Stade-Vélodrome square, he still sits, with a happy face, between Samia Ghali, his assistant for major events, Renaud Muselier (Renaissance), president of the region, and Martine Vassal (various right), president of the department and the metropolis, all gathered around Didier Drogba, who has just lit the cauldron of Paris 2024. The photo is perfect to embody the “Olympic Truce” that Marseille politicians would have decided to respect.
But, behind the facade of an event that put the city “at the center of the world”the battle of egos and communication between local politicians was permanent around these two days of urban jubilation. “The truce won’t last”had already warned Renaud Muselier a few hours earlier, with a mischievous wink.
“Today, the mayor receives the light… it’s normal”
The second day of the flame had barely started on Thursday when the president of the region welcomed Tony Estanguet, the president of the Organizing Committee for the Olympic and Paralympic Games (Cojop) Paris 2024, and Amélie Oudéa-Castéra, the Minister of sports and JOPs on the square of the Cosquer cave, the replica of the prehistoric cave located in the Calanque de la Triperie.
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