Florent Manaudou will be the first bearer of the flame in Marseille – Libération

2024-04-26 17:01:49

The swimmer will receive the famous torch on May 8 after crossing the Mediterranean aboard the Belem. Boarding the three-masted ship is scheduled for Saturday April 27 in Piraeus.

The flame before the banner? Declared candidate for the position of standard bearer of the French delegation during the opening ceremony of the Paris Games, swimmer Florent Manadou will be the first bearer of the Olympic flame upon his arrival in mainland France. Tony Estanguet, the president of the organizing committee, made the announcement this Friday, April 26, during a ceremony at the Panathenaic Stadium in Athens.

The swimmer will receive the flame on May 8, in Marseille, after the torch has crossed the Mediterranean aboard the three-masted Belem. She is embarking tomorrow Saturday from the port of Piraeus for a 12-day journey which will take her to the Phoenician city.

Lit on April 16 in Olympia, the flame had as its first French torchbearer… Florent Manaudou‘s sister, Laure Manaudou. The Olympic champion in the 400m freestyle in 2004 in Athens took over from Greek rower Stefanos Ntouskos, gold medalist in Tokyo in 2021, the very first bearer of the flame 100 days before the start of the Games.

After arriving in Marseille, the symbol of the Olympic Games will then cross all of France, passing through the Antilles and French Polynesia, to arrive in Paris on the day of the opening ceremony, July 26.