The Olympic flame landed on French soil amid tight security on Wednesday, firing the starting gun on a summer extravaganza of sport that President Emmanuel Macron hopes will showcase the splendours of France and burnish his legacy.

The flame arrived in Marseille, a port city in southern France founded by Greek merchants, after a 12-day trip from Greece onboard the Belem, a 128-year-old three-masted tall ship that once transported sugar from France’s colonies in the West Indies to the metropole.

The torch was brought to land by Florent Manaudou, France’s 2012 Olympic men’s 50 metres freestyle swimming champion, who handed it to Paralympic athlete Nantenin Keita, a 400 metres gold medallist at the Rio Games in 2016.

She then passed it on to Marseille-born rapper Jul, who lit the cauldron in front of an ecstatic crowd estimated at 150,000.

Earlier a flotilla of pleasure boats had welcomed the Belem to French shores.

“It marks the end of preparations, the Games arrive in the life of the French people. The flame is here, we can be proud,” Macron said.

Some 7,000 law enforcement officers including snipers and dog units secured Marseille’s Old Port, a stress test for the Paris 2024 organisers with France on its highest state of security alert against a complex geopolitical backdrop.

“There’s a huge security issue at stake. We will be ready. We will be on alert until the last second,” Macron said.

“It’s an unprecedented level of security,” Interior minister Gerald Darmanin said. “Life goes on in Marseille but under great security.”

From Marseille, the torch will continue on an 11-week odyssey that will see it criss-cross France and visit French overseas territories in the Caribbean as well as the Indian and Pacific oceans.

In all it will be carried by some 10,000 torchbearers before reaching Paris on July 26 for the Games’ opening ceremony.

Instead of a traditional opening ceremony, held in a stadium, France has planned a ritzy river parade along a six-kilometre stretch of the Seine, ending at the foot of the Eiffel Tower.

SOUTHERN CHARM

Sun-baked Marseille, France’s second city, provides a different spectacle to the formal elegance of Paris and large crowds gathered around the Old Port to watch.

“It was the obvious choice,” Tony Estanguet, the president of the Paris 2024 organising committee, said of Marseille, which was founded around 600 BC by Greek settlers from Phocea.

Despite a history of gang crime and poverty, its turquoise creeks and Mediterranean accents encapsulate the French southern charms that have beguiled artists and movie stars for generations.

Sports competitions have long offered nations the opportunity to exert soft power and advance their geopolitical goals. This week Chinese President Xi Jinping voiced support for Macron’s call for a global truce during the Paris 2024 Games.

Suspending armed conflicts under an “Olympic truce” is a longstanding tradition. French officials hope Xi’s endorsement is a sign that he could use his influence to persuade Russia to honour a truce in Ukraine when President Vladimir Putin travels to China later this month.

Paris itself has come to take an increasingly important role in France’s diplomatic and commercial strategies.

Last year, Pharrell Williams staged his debut menswear collection for Louis Vuitton (LVMH.PA), opens new tab along Paris’ Pont Neuf bridge, with large crowds gathered along the banks of the Seine for a glimpse of his celebrity audience.

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The Organising Committee of the next Olympic Games has chosen Victor le Masne to be the musical director of the four ceremonies and composer of the official musical theme of the Paris 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games.

Renowned for his talent and innovation in the field of music, Victor le Masne has written and composed a captivating official musical theme that subtly blends symphonic and electronic sounds to embody the dynamic and universal spirit of Paris 2024. 

The official musical theme of the Paris 2024 Games, entitled ‘Parade’, will be performed live for the first time by the Orchestra of Marseille at the Palais du Pharo on 8 May at 19:30, when the Olympic Flame arrives in Marseille aboard the ‘Belem’ to mark the start of the Games celebrations in France. 

The flame arrives in France this Wednesday after a long journey that began in Olympia on 16 April to mark the 100 days until the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games. To discover an extract performed by the Orchestre National de France: https://we.tl/t-1k2adjOpwU.

This musical theme, which will be played throughout the Olympic and Paralympic Games, was recorded with the Orchestre National de France and the Chœur et Maitrise de Radio France. It will capture the emotion of sport in a rousing melody that will accompany all the highlights of the Games, from this Wednesday 8 May to the competition. It will be available in several versions, with sounds and rhythms that will change according to the occasion.

Victor le Masne said, “I am honoured and excited to contribute to the unforgettable experience of the Paris 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games as composer of the Official Musical Theme and musical director of the Ceremonies. My aim is to create an original soundtrack that will not only accompany the most memorable moments of these Games, but will also remain etched in the memories of all generations.” 

“Victor le Masne sets all the magic of the Paris 2024 Games to music with vivacity, composing both the values of sport and the ambitions of Paris 2024 to set the pace for the coming months,” said Tony Estanguet, President of Paris 2024. 

Victor le Masne is also working with Thomas Jolly as the composer of the four Paris 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games Ceremonies, each of which will have its own sonic identity inspired by the official musical theme. For 2022, the two worked together on the musical direction of the famous rock opera “Starmania”, for which he produced the new arrangements. 

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The Paris 2024 Olympics cauldron design for the Torch Relay has been unveiled. Designed by Mathieu Lehanneur, it will be lit at each stopover city in France by the last Torchbearer of the day.

The Olympic Torch Relay unfolds as a compelling narrative depicted through three profoundly symbolic objects emblematic of the Games. Originating from Olympia, the Paris 2024 Torch embarks on a journey across Greece, paying homage to the Games’ ancient roots. 

Its next appearance in Marseille on 8 May will herald the commencement of four months of celebratory events commemorating the Games in France. As the Torch reaches French territory, 10,000 Olympic Torchbearers will illuminate the regions, bridging the Games’ spirit with the French populace. In every stopover city, the day’s final Torchbearer will ignite the cauldron at the celebration venue, culminating in vibrant festivities.

The transition from the Torch Relay cauldrons to the Olympic Cauldron will occur solely on the closing day of the Relay, 26 July, 2024, marking the commencement of the Olympic Games. The Torch, cauldron, and Paralympic cauldron will feature in the Paralympic Torch Relay, commencing from Stoke Mandeville in England, the renowned birthplace of Paralympic sport.

Upon reaching France in Calais on 25 August, the Paralympic Flame will be distributed into twelve Flames across the nation, each illuminating a cauldron in the stopover cities before converging to ignite the Paralympic cauldron in Paris on 28 August, 2024. “Each day, during the Torch Relay, the lighting of the cauldron by the last Torchbearer of the day will be a highlight,” said Tony Estanguet, President of Paris 2024.

“In each stopover city, the cauldron will be a real meeting point to round off these days of celebration and communion in style. We’re inviting everyone to join us there, to share in all the emotions we’ll be experiencing with the Torch Relay and to celebrate, together, the arrival of the Games in France. We can’t wait!”

Crafted by French designer Lehanneur, the Torch Relay cauldron is inspired by the Torch’s essence, integrating its distinctive elements: the simplicity of form, vibrant colours, and the fluidity of water’s texture. With a singular base, three supporting structures, and an almost ethereal ring, the cauldron’s pristine form mirrors the graceful curves of the Torch, symbolising the spirit of peace embodied by the Flame and the Games.

The cauldron shares the radiant hue of the Torch, blending gold, silver, and bronze tones, featuring a glossy finish on its lower sections and a matte finish on the upper sections. “The Torch, the Torch Relay cauldron and the Olympic Cauldron are not separate objects,” said Lehanneur.

“They are chapters in one great story. Each embodies the spirit of the Paris Games. The cauldron takes the form of a ring of fire suspended above a liquid surface. Both pure and magical, it seems to float and is reflected in its metallic base. If the Torch is a sacred fire that is passed on, the cauldron is the object around which we gather and which unites our energies.”

From the Mediterranean Sea to the Seine, spanning the journey from the Torch Relay through the Opening Ceremony stage of the Olympic Games and competition venues, the significance of water in the Paris 2024 Torch Relay and Games is represented by wave and ripple effects adorning both the Torch and the cauldron’s base.

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