Paris 2024 has recently revealed most of the 11,000 torchbearers who will be participating in the Olympic and Paralympic Torch Relays throughout France.
The torch relays will take place from May 8 to July 26, with the opening ceremony to be held on the River Seine.
Ten thousand participants will be part of the Olympic Torch Relay, while the remaining thousand will participate in the Paralympic Torch Relay.
Paris 2024 says no sport will be left out: “We are planning to shine the spotlight on each modality and every participant, to treat the public to a spectacular show as the Torch makes its way to its final destination. From fencing in the Lascaux caves, cycling up Mont Ventoux, to horse riding on Omaha Beach.”
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The Torch Relay is a key moment and an eagerly awaited part of the Games.
More than 100,000 candidates applied for the torch relay, but only 11,000 people amongst celebrities and strangers alike will make the cut. The organization is still informing the lucky people who will be part of this historic event.
For the first time, both professional athletes and the general public will have the unique opportunity to lead teams during the torch relay.
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A total of 69 team relays will take place during the Olympic Torch Relay with each relay adding unique touches and hoping to raise awareness of Para sport.
For the Paralympic Torch Relay, six team relays will be organized with the support of the French Paralympic and Sports Committee, with each one based on themes linked to the Paralympic Movement.
The organization wants to make this experience unique for participants and viewers by adding sporting movements in the relay teams bringing their vision of fully embodying their “Games Wide Open" spirit of inclusivity and participation to life.
“The Torch Relay is, above all, a human adventure, represented by the stories of each torchbearer," Paris 2024 president Tony Estanguet said. "Be they athletes or sports enthusiasts, committed to their local communities or in meaningful community projects, the people we call the ‘Forerunners’ represent the richness and diversity of our society. With them, the Torch Relay will be a wonderful moment of openness and sharing.”
The Olympic Torch Relay
Stéfanos Doúskos, a Greek rower who won gold at the 2020 Tokyo Games, will kick off the Olympic Torch Relay on April 16 in Athens, Greece.
For 11 days in Greece, 600 torchbearers will carry the flame over a distance of 500 kilometers through 41 towns.
The Olympic water polo silver medalist from Tokyo 2020, Greece's Ioannis Fountoulis, will be the country's final torchbearer. The athlete will carry the flame from the Pantheon Stadium in Athens and on April 26 pass it on to the president of Greece's National Olympic Committee, Spyros Capralos, who will deliver it to the organizing committee of Paris 2024.
The French part of the journey begins in Marseille on May 8, when the Olympic flame arrives aboard the three-masted ship, “Belem.”
Torchbearers will then carry the flame over 200 meters through more than 400 French towns and cities, including in five overseas regions, before the Opening Ceremony on July 26.
The names of the torchbearers will be revealed in stages between now and April. Some will be kept secret until the last moment to maintain the suspense, notably for athletes and personalities.
How does one get chosen to carry the Olympic Torch?
The torchbearers are chosen by the Olympic sponsors and organizers, usually because they have made a significant contribution to their community and because they personify the theme of that Olympics.
Among them are the likes of Jean-Claude Gauvin, an 83-year-old retiree who never expected to be selected. Gauvin is from Val d'Oise near Paris, still runs four times a week, and is one of the lucky few who will be able to carry the Olympic flame for Paris 2024.
The torchbearers were chosen from a pool of over 100,000 applications and nominations, representing all ages and genders, from all regions of France, as well as several individuals from across the world. Gauvin made quite the impression on the Paris 2024 Committee by his commitment and dedication to community work.
The Olympic Flame
The Olympic Flame symbolizes the light of spirit, knowledge and life. By passing the flame from one person to another in stages, the Torch Relay expresses the handing down of this symbolic fire from generation to generation.
