The flame for the Paris 2024 Summer Olympics set sail on Saturday from the "Piraeus" port of Piraeus to the city of Marseille in France aboard a three-masted ship, marking the beginning of the final stage of preparations ahead of the opening ceremony on July 26. The organizers of the Paris Olympics received the flame on Friday during a ceremony held at the Panathenaic Stadium in Athens, after it was lit last week in ancient Olympia, starting an 11-day journey in Greece.
Approximately 150,000 fans are expected to attend the flame reception at the Old Port of Marseille, which will host the Olympic sailing events and serve as the launch point for the 68-day torch relay across France. The last person to carry the torch in Marseille will ascend to the top of the Velodrome Stadium on May 9, concluding the relay in Paris on July 26 with the lighting of the Olympic cauldron during the opening ceremony, which will take place along the Seine River.
Paris 2024 organizers hope that the opening ceremony, featuring 160 boats carrying athletes from around the world sailing six kilometers towards the Eiffel Tower, will be spectacular. Around 300,000 people are expected to watch the ceremony from both banks of the Seine, while the global audience will follow it through television screens. The ship's journey to Marseille will take 11 days, arriving on May 8.
