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This photograph taken on April 10, 2024, shows a detail of the headquarters of the Paris 2024 Olympics and Paralympics Organising Committee (Cojo), in the Saint-Denis suburb of Paris. Bertrand Guay, AFP

This photograph taken on April 10, 2024, shows a detail of the headquarters of the Paris 2024 Olympics and Paralympics Organising Committee (Cojo), in the Saint-Denis suburb of Paris. (Photo by Bertrand GUAY / AFP)

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Paris 2024 Olympics and Paralympics Organising Committee

Agence France-Presse

<div><span class="fr-img-caption fr-fic fr-dib" style="width:960px"><span class="fr-img-wrap"><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/1715159186727AFP__20240410__34P64PT__v1__Preview__FranceOlyParis2024Presser.jpg" style="width:960px" class="fr-fic fr-dib" alt="This photograph taken on April 10, 2024, shows a detail of the headquarters of the Paris 2024 Olympics and Paralympics Organising Committee (Cojo), in the Saint-Denis suburb of Paris. Bertrand Guay, AFP"/><span class="fr-inner" style="text-align:left">This photograph taken on April 10, 2024, shows a detail of the headquarters of the Paris 2024 Olympics and Paralympics Organising Committee (Cojo), in the Saint-Denis suburb of Paris. <em>Bertrand Guay, AFP</em></span></span></span></div><p dir="ltr">MARSEILLE, France -- The Olympic flame arrives in France on Wednesday where a highly choreographed ceremony and a crowd of 150,000 people will be a first major test for organizers and security forces ahead of the 2024 Paris Games.</p><p>The transfer of the flame onshore in the southern port of Marseille will mark the start of a 12,000-kilometer (7,500-mile) torch relay across mainland France and the country&#x27;s far-flung overseas territories.</p><p>Organizers are hoping the first public spectacle of their much-hyped &quot;iconic&quot; Olympics -- just 79 days away -- will help build excitement after a damaging row about ticket prices and ongoing concerns about security.</p><p>&quot;It&#x27;s something we&#x27;ve been waiting for for a very long time,&quot; chief organizer Tony Estanguet told reporters on Monday. &quot;It&#x27;s here. One hundred years after the last Games, the Games are coming home.&quot;</p><p>When the Paris opening ceremony begins on July 26, it will be the first time the city has played host for a century after previous editions in 1924 and 1900.</p><p>France sees itself at the heart of the modern Olympic movement after a French aristocrat, Pierre de Coubertin, revived the idea of the Games as practiced by the Greeks until the 4th century BC.</p><p>After the Covid-hit edition in Tokyo in 2021 and the corruption-tainted Rio de Janeiro version in 2016, the Paris Olympics are seen as an important moment for the sporting extravaganza as a whole.</p><p>A measure of public excitement will come when the flame is handed over on Wednesday evening from the Belem, a historic 19th-century French tall ship that has made a 12-day trip from Greece.</p><p>&quot;We are going to do beautiful, grandiose, sober and accessible at the same time,&quot; Marseille mayor Benoit Payan promised ahead of the ceremony, while recalling how his gritty port city was founded by Greek traders in 600 BC.</p><div><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/sports/2024/5/7/inside-the-french-factory-that-makes-the-olympic-torch-1811">READ: Inside the French factory that makes the Olympic torch</a></div><div><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/lifestyle/2024/4/30/look-what-olympic-athletes-will-eat-during-the-paris-2024-olympics-458">LOOK: What Olympic athletes will eat during the Paris 2024 Olympics</a></div><div><strong>- &#x27;Beautiful, grandiose&#x27; -</strong></div><div dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;text-align:justify;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:10pt"><span style="color:#000000;background-color:transparent;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;white-space:pre-wrap"><strong><span class="fr-video fr-deletable fr-fvc fr-dvb fr-draggable" contenteditable="false" draggable="true"><iframe width="640" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/B40io3twIrM?&amp;wmode=opaque&amp;rel=0" frameBorder="0" allowfullscreen="" class="fr-draggable"></iframe></span></strong></span><br/></div><p>Over 1,000 other boats will accompany the Belem&#x27;s approach to the harbor and organizers expect around 150,000 people to witness the flame come ashore in the revamped Marseille marina, which will host the sailing events during the Olympics.</p><p>Fireworks and a free concert will complete the show which will be broadcast live on French TV.</p><p>In the background, around 6,000 members of the security forces are expected to be on duty as part of extensive security plans put in place at a time when the country is on its highest terror alert.</p><p>&quot;It&#x27;s completely unprecedented for the national police to mobilize so many people on the same day at the same place,&quot; regional police coordinator Cedric Esson told reporters on Monday.</p><p>The honor of being the first torch bearer will fall to four-time Olympic medal-winning swimmer Florent Manaudou.</p><p>Other stars scheduled to take part in the parade, which continues in Marseille on Thursday, include NBA-winning basketball player Tony Parker and footballer Didier Drogba, as well as charity and entertainment figures.</p><p>One beach-cleaning charity has boycotted the ceremony to protest Olympics sponsor Coca-Cola, while there is no scheduled role for Marseille&#x27;s most famous sporting son, football legend Zinedine Zidane.</p><div><strong>- Opening ceremony -</strong></div><div><span class="fr-video fr-deletable fr-fvc fr-dvb fr-draggable" contenteditable="false" draggable="true"><iframe width="640" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/P8NgOfmNKdM?&amp;wmode=opaque&amp;rel=0" frameBorder="0" allowfullscreen="" class="fr-draggable"></iframe></span><br/></div><p>Extremely tight security will be a constant feature as the torch travels through more than 450 French towns and cities, and passes by dozens of tourist attractions including the Mont Saint Michel.</p><p>Around 200 security forces are set to be positioned permanently around it, including an anti-terror SWAT team and anti-drone operatives.</p><p>Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin has referred to the risk of protests, including from far-left groups or environmental activists such as Extinction Rebellion.</p><p>Organizers have promised a &quot;spectacular&quot; and &quot;iconic&quot; Olympics, with much of the sport set to take place in temporary venues around the City of Light including at the Eiffel Tower and the Invalides.</p><p>In the absence of a much-feared security scare, the opening ceremony will take place in boats on the river Seine in a radical departure from past Games which have opened in the main stadium.</p><p>All of the major infrastructure has been completed with only two new permanent sporting venues built in a bid to reduce the financial cost and carbon emissions of the global extravaganza.</p><p>The idea of the torch rally harks back to the ancient Olympics when a sacred flame burned throughout the Games.</p><p>The Paris Olympics will run from July 26-August 11, followed by the Paralympics from August 28-September 8.</p><div><strong>© Agence France-Presse</strong></div><div><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/world/2024/5/1/french-workers-protest-on-may-day-in-paris-ahead-olympic-games-2300">READ: French workers protest on May Day in Paris ahead Olympic games</a></div>

<p>The Olympic flame arrives in France on Wednesday where a highly choreographed ceremony and a crowd of 150,000 people will be a first major test for organizers and security forces ahead of the 2024 Paris Games.</p>

The Olympic flame arrives in France on Wednesday where a highly choreographed ceremony and a crowd of 150,000 people will be a first major test for organizers and security forces ahead of the 2024 Paris Games.

150,000 people expected as Olympic flame arrives in France

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150,000 people expected as Olympic flame arrives in France

Agence France-Presse,

Stanislas Touchot

Published May 08, 2024 06:43 PM PHT

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