“Oh Phryge! » A little boy recognized the giant mascot of Paris 2024 which sits under the tent of the Meuse departmental council. Sunday May 5, in the village of Clermont-en-Argonne, 1,500 inhabitants, the department and the departmental Olympic and sports committee (CDOS) organized a march and created a sports village to try to mobilize the 180,000 inhabitants of this department rural area around the passage of the Olympic flame.
The objective was to “to increase emulation among the population and to reveal to as many people as possible the program of the celebrations planned for June 29”explained Thomas Furdin, head of the Meuse youth and sports service.
The date chosen was symbolic: fifty-five days before the handover of the baton in the territory and, fortunately by chance of the calendar, it fell on May 5 (5/5). Fifty-five, again, like the number of the Meuse.
The choice of location was also just as symbolic: it was “to hold a popular sports festival to liven up a territory where the Olympic flame does not pass[ait] not “according to Philippe Colson, advisor to the president of the department, at the origin of this project.
The Argonne, a vast area of forests and ponds, straddles three departments: the Ardennes, the Marne and the west of the Meuse. “We are repairing a lack of presence in this often forgotten land of Argonne, estimates Anne-Laure Arondel, president of the CDOS, while it is full of associative and sporting riches. »
Explain the path of the flame
In Clermont-en-Argonne, two routes were offered to walkers: one of 11.5 kilometers, the other of 7.2 kilometers, representing the cumulative distance that the two convoys of the Olympic flame will cover on June 29.
All along the trail, the department had installed signs presenting each site where the relay will pass, the names of the flame bearers designated by the Meuse and the activities planned for the big day.
“People don’t always understand the principle, they think that the flame will pass through all the villages between Bar-le-Duc and Verdunnotes Thomas Furdin. We explain to them what is going to happen, we want to make them want to participate. »
For those who were not interested in walking, the CDOS had created an Olympic village, or rather a “village of fun and sporting activities” as indicated on the event poster. Introduction to duathlon, field hockey, badminton… several activities were offered outside the brand new gymnasium – partly funded by the department.
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