Olympics & Paralympics

Paris Olympic Flame Arrives in France by Ship from Greece

Ryohei Moriya / The Yomiuri Shimbun
The torch of the Paris Olympics arrives on Wednesday in Marseille, France.

By Kazunori Hirachi / Yomiuri Shimbun Correspondent

16:26 JST, May 9, 2024

MARSEILLE, France — The Olympic flame of the Paris Olympics, which will start on July 26, arrived on Wednesday in Marseille, France.

The torch was carried by a sailing ship from Greece, the birthplace of the Olympics, and brought to the old port in the city center as a large crowd of residents watched.

Swimmer Florent Manaudou, who was the gold medalist in the men’s 50-meter freestyle at the 2012 London Olympics, disembarked from the ship raising the torch. When a popular local singer received the torch and lit the torch plate, the crowd’s excitement reached its peak.

According to the Paris Games’ organizing committee, about 150,000 people rushed to the old port to watch the arrival of the torch.