Paris 2024: how will the journey of the Olympic flame across the Mediterranean take place aboard the "Belem"until his arrival in Marseille?
Boarding is imminent. Lit on April 16 in Olympia, the Olympic flame completes a journey through Greece and is preparing to be officially handed over to France on Friday April 26 at the Panathenaic Stadium in Athens. After a night at the French embassy, the torch will embark on Saturday on the Belem, famous three-masted ship arrived Wednesday in the port of Piraeus. The sailboat will then begin a 12-day cruise in the Mediterranean to Marseille, where the flame will be welcomed with fanfare on May 8.
On board, the torch will be well surrounded, since 16 crew members and 48 trainees will participate in the trip. “[La flamme] will be the 65th passenger”, jokes to franceinfo Christelle de Larauze, general delegate of the Belem Caisse d’Epargne foundation, who watches over the ship. The Olympic symbol will be well guarded because “the flame will be in a lantern”explains Delphine Moulin, director of celebrations for Paris 2024, at 20 minutes.
These lanterns, the same ones used in each edition, “constitute a symbol of perpetuity of the relay”details the Organizing Committee for the Olympic and Paralympic Games (Cojop) to franceinfo. “In the air, on the sea or on the road, they remain lit thanks to a specific combustion oil, and allow the flame to be transported over long distances and preserved from various conditions”.
On the ship, the location of the flame was the subject of debate. Where to drop it off? How to monitor and secure it? All precautions have been taken so that the Belembuilt in 1896, the year the modern Olympic Games were created, suffered no damage. “The flame will be stored in a lantern and will be guarded. There will be no risks”reassured one of the two commanders of the ship, Mathieu Combot, at the beginning of April on France Inter.
It is the large roof which was chosen to accommodate the prestigious passenger. This lounge serves as a briefing room for navigation instructions when the sailboat is at sea, and as a reception room during stopovers. Designed for the Duke of Westminster, who acquired the ship at the start of the 20th century, it was renovated in 2018, details West France. “We opted for the most beautiful part of the boat, it is very emblematic”, explains Christelle de Larauze. But during the 12 days and the 2,000 km of crossing, the flame will not remain cloistered there.
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