We can already imagine the emotion of Tony Estanguet, the president of Paris 2024, when Spyros Capralos, the president of the Hellenic Olympic Committee finally presents him with the Olympic flame. On at Olympia by the High Priestess in front of the temple of Hera, cradle of the Ancient Games, she has since traveled across Greece, paying tribute in particular to the historical links that Greece maintains with France, arriving in Athens this Friday, April 26. This time, it is to the first modern Games, those relaunched by Baron Pierre de Coubertin, that the handover ceremony will make a nod.
As tradition dictates, everyone will meet at 6:30 p.m. in Greece (5:30 p.m. in France) at the Athens Panathenaic Stadium, the ancient stadium, which had been renovated to host the first Olympic Games of the modern era, in 1896. As in Olympia, the ceremonial is perfectly rehearsed. The Priestesses, already at the heart of the flame lighting ritual, will be back, as the flame enters the stadium at 5:57 p.m. (in France). Four porters will take turns, two Greeks and two French women, the Olympic ice dancing champion, Gabriella Papadakis, then Béatrice Hess, the former swimmer with 20 gold medals at the Paralympic Games.
It will then be 6:23 p.m….
While Greek rower Stefanos Ntouskos was the first torchbearer in Olympia, the honor of being the last torchbearer on Greek soil will go to the captain of the water polo team, Yannis Fountoulis. It is he who will light the cauldron, placed in the Panathenaic stadium. The High Priestess will then light a torch, which will be passed by Spyros Capralos and Tony Estanguet. It will then be 6:23 p.m., and the flame will be placed in its lantern. If she will then be French, she will spend a final night on Greek soil, at the French Embassy, ​​with her first guardian.
It will not be until Saturday morning that Tony Estanguet – accompanied by two of the 16 scouts, chosen by the Caisse d’Épargne, one of the sponsors of the relay – will place the lantern on the Bélem. The old 3-masted ship will leave the port of Piraeus at 10 a.m. to arrive in Marseille on May 8, after 12 days of crossing.
The party in the old Port promises to be completely crazy, with a huge parade throughout the day then a docking along an athletics track, spread out over the sea, in front of 150,000 people.
