Elle est partie. Sauf accident, elle ne s’arrêtera plus jusqu’au 26 juillet, date de la cérémonie d’ouverture des Jeux de Paris 2024. Allumée le mois dernier à Olympie, embarquée pour une traversée de la Méditerranée sur un trois-mâts prêté par un groupe bancaire, la flamme olympique a débuté son parcours en France. Enfin.
The first day of his relay, Wednesday May 8, gave rise to a first controversy: the identity of the last of the three relayers, the Marseille rapper Jul. Thousands of Internet users on social networks lashed out against this choice, unconvinced by its relevance and even less by the artist's words – “ Thank you la zone» – next to the cauldron. The COJO defended itself, assuring through its president, Tony Estanguet, that this 34-year-old singer, whose real name was Julien Mari, was “a local personality who speaks a lot to people in Marseille and more generally to young people». Let's admit it.
For its second day on French soil, Thursday May 9, the flame gathered significantly more. So much the better. With a cast of torchbearers including Tony Parker, Basile Boli, Jean-Pierre Papin, Frédérick Bousquet, then finally Didier Drogba as the last torchbearer, at the Stade Vélodrome, the COJO and the City of Marseille escaped any lack of taste.
Above all, the day was marked by the first of the collective relays planned throughout the course. Placed under the sign of the European Union, it coincided with Europe Day. Perfect timing.
The 28 relay athletes were selected jointly by France and the countries of the European Union. The list included eight former Olympic gold medalists, two former flag bearers, seven young people selected for the Paris 2024 Games, three Paralympic athletes. A predominantly female collective relay (18 out of 28). France was represented by Jean Galfione, Olympic pole vault champion in Atlanta in 1996.
At the head of the procession, Ukrainian gymnast Mariia Vysochanska (photo above). Double gold medalist at the European Championships in 2020, present the following year at the Tokyo Games, she was chosen to express the solidarity of France, and beyond the entire Olympic movement, with the Ukraine.
«With this European collective relay, we wanted to send a strong signal of cohesion and solidarity around sporting values which are also reflections of the European project”, insisted Amélie Oudéa-Castéra, the French Minister of Sports and the Olympic and Paralympic Games.
The young Ukrainian confided it to the media, while carrying out her relay within the European collective, in front of the Mucem in Marseille: parading with the flame, on the second day of its journey in France, is not only symbolic. “It is an honor that France gives us to be symbolically part of Europe on this special day, she explained.This gives us a lot of hope. Today I think about what is happening at home in Kyiv, where we train with the sound of explosions and Russian missiles overhead. It's very scary to have to interrupt training to take refuge in a shelter. »
Accompanied to Marseille by Viktoriia Riasna, the Ukrainian Minister of Sports, the gymnast recounted in detail her journey to reach Marseille. “ I took the train to Poland and all night long we could hear explosions, the sound of planes and missiles. It was very trying. Being here gives me hope and even a little more support from France and Western countries. It prevents me from getting used to this lasting war, because we must not get used to it"
