The Olympic flame will be lit on April 16 in Greece’s ancient Olympia and head to Paris for the Olympics and the opening ceremony scheduled for July 26 in the French capital.
The International Olympic Committee provided some main points on Tuesday. The flame, traditionally lit by the sun’s rays during a solemn rite at the ancient site of Olympia on Tuesday, April 16 at 10:30 a. m. , will first be transported through Greece and arrive in Athens for the rite of delivery at the Panathenaic Stadium on Friday, April 26 at 5:30 p. m. in the presence of a delegation from the Paris 2024 Organising Committee.
The flame will pass by the French embassy in Athens, before embarking the next day on the three-masted “Belem” – classified as an ancient monument – to Marseille, where it will arrive in France on May 8.
Greece’s Stefanos Ntouskos, 26, Olympic rowing champion in Tokyo in 2021, will be the first Olympic torchbearer from Olympia in the Peloponnese.
Some 600 relays will carry the Olympic flame to Greece, covering more than 5,000 kilometres across the country, from Meteora to Kastellorizo, from Delphi to Santorini, before arriving at the Panathenaic Stadium in Athens. The last Greek relays will be the players of the national water polo team, Olympic silver medallists in Tokyo.
During the relay, another 10,000 people will carry the Olympic flame in more than 400 cities and 65 territories, totaling six departments and communities, before the opening rite on July 26, scheduled for 7:30 p. m. , on the banks of the Seine.
The Games will continue until August 11. The Paralympic Games will be held from 28 August to 8 September.