Cycling at Mont Saint-Michel, horse riding at Omaha Beach, and the presence of renowned athletes: the locations and first captains of the collective relays of the Paris Olympic and Paralympic flame route were revealed on Wednesday. Each of these collective relays will participate in strolls or demonstrations in several cities in France, and also in “unusual” or “spectacular” places, according to the organizers.
Mont Saint-Michel, Les Sables d’Olonne, Omaha Beach…
This is the case of a collective fencing relay which will perform at the Lascaux IV site, in Dordogne, or even the climbing relay which will go to the Sisteron cliff (Alpes-de-Haute-Provence ), in May. Several historic places, such as Mont Saint-Michel (Manche), Les Sables d’Olonne (Vendée) or Omaha Beach (Calvados) will be the playground for representatives of cycling, sailing and horse riding.
Furthermore, Teahupo’o, the site selected for the surfing events and subject to controversy surrounding its potential new aluminum judges’ tower, will host the collective relay of the discipline in June.
A flame carried among others by Camille Lacourt, Laura Flessel and Pascal Gentil
More than 3,000 torchbearers will take part in the Olympic torch team relays, from May 8 to July 26, and Paralympic torch relays between August 25 and 28. In total, the captains and sites of 69 relays, each made up of 24 people, were revealed on Wednesday. Thus, the five-time long course swimming world champion Camille Lacourt will guide the swimming relay on July 19 in Sarcelles (Val-d’Oise). A few days later, Taekwondo champion Pascal Gentil will be in Gennevilliers (Hauts-de-Seine). French cyclist Guillaume Martin will be present at Mont Saint-Michel at the end of May.
Several Olympic champions will also be there: Laura Flessel as captain of the fencing relay on June 15 in Guadeloupe, the gymnast Emilie Le Pennec on May 25 in Poitiers (Vienna), the former coach of the French volleyball team Laurent Tillie on May 12 in Arles (Bouches-du-Rhône), or Charline Picon, gold in Rio in 2016, who will be captain of the sailing relay in Les Sables d’Olonne in June.
Nearly 12,000 kilometers and 10,000 torchbearers
Six collective relays will also be present on the Paralympic flame route. Each of them will highlight volunteers, young para-athletes or even caregivers and members of associations. In addition, parasport will also be highlighted on the Olympic flame route. The latter will cross France for 80 days over nearly 12,000 kilometers from May 8, 2024.
Carried by 10,000 torchbearers, it will be lit on April 16 in Greece, arriving by boat on May 8 in Marseille before crossing more than 400 cities, and five overseas territories, to arrive in Paris on July 26.