The Olympic flame goes sailing.
Rather than arriving by land, the symbolic flame that will ignite the Paris 2024 Games will sail from its birthplace in Greece, arriving aboard a three-masted ship in the French port of Marseille.
Paris organizers announced the flame’s journey Friday at the City Hall of Marseille, a former Greek colony founded 2,600 years ago.
According to tradition, the flame will be ignited by the sun’s rays at a ceremony in Ancient Olympia. The Olympic torch will then be carried to Athens and across the Mediterranean to the famous Old Port of Marseille, where the flame will be greeted by an armada of ships along the French coast, organizers said.
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It will travel to the Marseille marina, where the Olympic sailing competitions will take place, and to the Marseille stadium that hosts the Olympic soccer games, according to organizers.
Greek actress Xanthi Georgiou lights the torch with the flame during the Olympic flame handover ceremony at the Panathinean Stadium in Athens, Greece, on October 19, 2021. The flame will be shipped to Paris on a three-masted ship from Greece. for the 2024 Paris Games.
(AP Photo/Petros Giannakouris, file)
After that, it will be carried overland in the traditional torch relay, before arriving in Paris to light the cauldron and officially open the 2024 Games, which will take place from July 26 to August 2. eleven
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Friday’s announcement came as the general assembly of the Ukrainian National Olympic Committee was meeting in Kyiv to discuss a possible boycott of Paris 2024 if Russian athletes are allowed to compete.
Last week, the International Olympic Committee sought to chart a path for athletes from Russia and Belarus who have not actively supported the war in Ukraine to join the Paris Olympics. That drew strong objections from Ukraine, which wants those countries banned from most international sports.