The Olympic torch for the Paris Games embarked on its journey towards France this Saturday (27.04.2024) aboard the sailing ship « Belem, » which set sail from the Greek port of Piraeus, after the flame spent the night at the French embassy in Athens. Less than a hundred days from the opening ceremony, the historic French sailboat embarked on an unprecedented journey, as it marks the first time that the Olympic flame, lit every four years in ancient Olympia, is transported by sea from Greece to the host nation of the Games.
Angelos Tzortzinis/AFP/Getty Images
The 19th-century vessel is scheduled to dock on May 8th at the port of Marseille, where the Olympic flame’s journey will begin through various points in France, including its overseas territories, until the opening of the Games in Paris on July 26th. The sailboat, the last of three masts of the French merchant navy and designated as a ‘historical monument’ in 1984, was escorted by the Greek navy trireme « Olympias » and 25 other vessels, with dozens of people gathered behind a security barrier at the port.
« It’s an exceptional feeling. It’s a great emotion for me, » declared Tony Estanguet, president – not without controversy – of the Paris Games Organizing Committee, before the ship set sail. Estanguet emphasized the significant « coincidence » that a sailboat like the « Belem, » which is part of the French historical heritage, was launched into the sea for the first time a few weeks after Athens hosted the first modern Olympic Games in 1896.
« We came here so that children understand that the Olympic ideal was born in Greece. I feel very excited, » said Giorgos Kontopoulos to AFP, who witnessed the start of the sailboat’s journey with his two children.
