OLYMPIC TORCH ARRIVES IN FRANCE
Welcomed by French President Emmanuel Macron, the Olympic torch has arrived in France. Paris will host the Summer Olympic Games set to take place in three months.
A crowd of about 15,000 people gathered in the coastal town of Marseille today as a three-masted ship entered the harbour. The ship left Olympia in Greece at the end of April.
The Olympic Games are held every four years and, in the months leading up to the Summer Games, the torch is lit in Olympia, Greece and transported from there to the host city.
This year, the flame was lit on 11 April.
According to Tony Estanguet, the president of the Paris 2024 committee, Marseille was the ‘obvious choice’ to host the boat parade given it is France’s oldest city and was founded by the Greeks.
On Thursday, the torch will leave Marseilles and travel to Paris via several French towns, cities and even overseas territories.
The BBC reports that more than 10,000 people will take part in the 7,500-mile torch relay, which will also visit French overseas territories, before the flame reaches the capital city and is installed near the Louvre, in the Jardin des Tuileries.
Image credit: The Renfrewshire Gazette