All eyes are on the Olympic flame, with just 100 days to go till the start of the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris on July 26. The flame was lit on Tuesday during a special ceremony at the archaeological site of Olympia, the birthplace of the ancient Olympic Games.
The official lighting ceremony was held at the ruins of the temple of Hera in a ritual that links the modern Olympic Games to its ancient origins in Greece. It was attended by IOC President Thomas Bach and Paris 2024 President Tony Estanguet.
This year, because of cloudy weather conditions, the torch was not ignited using a parabolic mirror, which focuses the sun’s rays, but from a flame that had been lit during a rehearsal.
“In ancient times, the Olympic Games brought together the Greek city states, even – and in particular – during times of wars and conflict. Today, the Olympic Games are the only event that brings the entire world together in peaceful competition,” said Bach at the event.
The Olympic flame has now begun an 11-day relay throughout Greece that will see more than 550 torchbearers carry the flame across 3,000 miles to the Panathenaic Stadium in Athens for the handover ceremony on April 26.
The flame will then depart Greece from the port of Piraeus and will head to France by sea, arriving in Marseille on board the Belem, a three-masted ship.
“Our role as organisers is to do everything we can to continue to nurture and grow this flame, in our country and around the world. One hundred years after the last summer Games in our country, the people of France will have the immense honour and pleasure of hosting this magnificent 33rd Olympiad of the modern Games,” Paris 2024 President Estanguet said on Tuesday.
The boxing competition at Paris 2024 begins on July 27.
