Short but extensive. Unveiled at the end of last week, the torch relay for the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games seems to want to reconcile the irreconcilable. A duration reduced to just four days, but a route drawn with precise lines in all regions of mainland France.
How ? The OCOG explained it without hiding its pride: no less than twelve flames will be carried simultaneously during the four days of the relay. Twelve, the number of days of the Paralympic Games (August 28 to September 8).
The first, the most authentic, will have been lit in mid-August in Stoke Mandeville, England, birthplace of the Paralympic movement. On Sunday August 25, a battalion of 24 British torchbearers will bring her into the Channel Tunnel. Halfway through its underwater section, it will be transmitted to a group of the same size of French athletes, able-bodied and invalid. THE " scouts », the name given by the COJO Paris 2024 to the bearers of the flame, will then find the light of day in Calais, on the French side.
So far, nothing very unexpected. But what happens next turns out to be less linear. When it exits the tunnel, on the first day of its journey, the Paralympic flame will multiply thanks to the magic of digital technology. Eleven other torches will be lit in as many cities in France, all located on the outskirts of the country. The list includes Montpellier, Lourdes and Antibes to the south, Lorient and Saint-Malo to the west, Valenciennes to the north, Strasbourg to the east.
On the second day, Monday August 26, the twelve flames will converge towards Paris, but making one stop before reaching Ile-de-France. They will land in several cities excluded for political-economic reasons from the journey of the Olympic flame, including Lyon and Limoges. Each time, a 2 km loop will be traced through the streets and a “ flame festival » to celebrate the torch and its passage through the territory.
The following day, the procession will continue in the Paris region. The original flame will cross Seine-Saint-Denis, the others will visit the rest of the departments. Finally, Wednesday August 28, the day of the opening ceremony of the Paralympic Games, the twelve torches will become one. He will treat himself to a tour of Paris through all its districts, before completing his journey on the Place de la Concorde.
In total, the operation must mobilize a thousand scouts. Eight hundred of them will trot solo, the other two hundred will do so in relays of 24 people. For the former, the effort will be reduced to 200 meters, for a moment of eternity of only 4 minutes. In relay, the time will be doubled to eight minutes.
Clarification provided by the OCOG: the choice of the fifty cities crossed by the twelve relays owes nothing to chance, nor to a simple geographical development. It meets a subtle mix of criteria, including heritage, history, respect for inclusion and commitment to Paralympic sport. Blois is the hometown of Marie-Amélie Le Fur, president of the French Paralympic and Sports Committee (CPSF). Lorient was the birthplace of Damien Seguin, double Paralympic sailing champion, flag bearer of the French delegation at the London 2012 Games.
Also worth remembering is the decision not to request financial participation from the communities crossed. Unlike the Olympic torch relay, the cost of the operation is borne by the COJO and the official sponsors of the route, Coca-Cola, the Banques Populaires and the Caisses d’Epargne. This time, no risk of controversy.
