Resistance veteran among 10,000 carriers of Olympic torch to Paris
It will be one of the longest Olympic torch relays in history. For 10 weeks, about 10,000 people, from sports stars to survivors of terrorist attacks and a 102-year-old veteran of the French Resistance, will take turns to carry the flame. The torch will travel through more than 400 French towns and territories including Guadeloupe, Martinique, New Caledonia and Réunion to the opening ceremony in Paris on 26 July. Other notable stops include Mont Saint-Michel, the Normandy beaches of the D-day landings and the space centre at Kourou in French Guiana.
With heavy police protection and high costs, and amid rows over the environmental impact, French organisers are nonetheless hoping millions will turn out to see the torch pass through. “The torch is magical for its symbolism and for those who carry it,” the French sports minister, Amélie OudéaCastéra, told Ouest France.
More than 150,000 spectators and 6,000 police were expected in Marseille last night to see the lantern carrying the flame arrive on a 19th-century sailing ship, after a 12-day journey from Greece.
Piles of rubbish were being hastily cleared from streets in the city on Tuesday after refuse collectors went on strike.
A dissenting view came from Marseille councillors Sébastien Barles and Aïcha Sif. In an open letter to the daily Libération , they warned that the Olympic Games were being used to “distract public opinion from the key issues of our era: the climate crisis and defending democracy and social protections”.