MARSEILLE, France – French Olympic swimmer Florent Manaudou became France’s first Olympic torchbearer after the Olympic flame arrived in Marseille’s Old Port on Wednesday on a majestic three-masted ship from Greece for the laying-in welcome ceremony. sunset in the city’s Old Port.
The ship sailed into the old port of Marseille with the French national anthem, La Marseillaise, echoing from the embankment and a French Air Force flyover with planes drawing first the five Olympic rings and then the red-blue-white colors of the country’s flag.
The ship docked at the jetty reflecting an athletics track and Manaudou carried the torch to mainland France as tens of thousands of people cheered and thousands of others waved from balconies and windows overlooking the festivities.
“We can be proud,” said President Emmanuel Macron, who participated in the torch-welcoming ceremony.
“The flame is on French soil,” said Macron. “Games are coming to France and entering the lives of the French people.”
The torch was lit in Greece last month, before being officially handed over to France. He left Athens aboard a ship called Belém, first used in 1896, and spent twelve days at sea.
The president of the Paris 2024 Olympic Organizing Committee, Tony Estanguet, said that the return of the Olympic Games to France was reason for a “fantastic celebration”.
“As a former athlete, I know how important the start of a competition is. That’s why we chose Marseille, because it is definitely one of the cities most passionate about sport,” added Estanguet, a former Olympic canoeing star with gold medals at the 2000, 2004 and 2012 Games.
The safety of visitors and residents has been one of the main priorities of authorities in Marseille, the second largest city in France, with almost one million inhabitants. Around 8,000 police officers were deployed around the port.
Thousands of firefighters and bomb squads were positioned around the city, along with marine police and anti-drone teams patrolling the city’s waters and airspace.
“It is a monumental day and we have been working hard so that visitors and residents of Marseille can enjoy this historic moment,” said Yannick Ohanessian, the city’s deputy mayor.
The torch relay will begin on Thursday in Marseille, before heading to Paris passing iconic sites across the country, from the world-famous Mont Saint-Michel to the beaches of the D-Day landings in Normandy and the Palace of Versailles.
A heavy police and military presence was seen patrolling Marseille city center on Tuesday, while a military helicopter flew over the Old Port, where a series of barriers had been installed.
French Interior Ministry spokeswoman Camille Chaize said authorities were prepared for security threats, including terrorism.
“We are employing several measures, including the elite unit of the National Gendarmerie Intervention Group, which will be present at the torch relay from start to finish,” she said.
The Olympic cauldron will be lit after the opening ceremony of the Games, which will take place on the River Seine, on July 26th.
The cauldron will be lit in a location in Paris that will be kept secret until the next day. Among the reported options are iconic locations such as the Eiffel Tower and the Tuileries Gardens, outside the Louvre Museum.
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Barbara Surk contributed from Nice, France. AP journalists Jeffrey Schaeffer, Oleg Cetinic, Nicolas Garriga and Daniel Cole contributed to this story.
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AP Olympics
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