The Olympic flame will be lit this Tuesday at the ancient site of Olympia, in Greece, before a vast journey that will take it from the Acropolis to Paris. The Franco-Greek host, who carried the flame in 2004, has been in full rehearsals.
The flame ignition system involves the use of the sun and a parabolic cylindrical mirror, a process already known to the ancient Greeks. The torch will then begin a journey of 5,000 km across Greece for 11 days, from the island of Corfu, in the Ionian Sea, to that of Santorini in the Cyclades, via Kastellorizo, in southeast of the country. It will then arrive in Paris on the day of the opening ceremony, July 26, 2024, to arrive on the three-masted Belemlem ship Belemme, the symbol of the Olympic Games of France. The first torchbearer will be Stefanos Ntouskos, Olympic rowing champion at the Tokyo Olympics. French swimmer Laure Manaudou will succeed her and will thus be the first French relay runner.