Fire, Water and Earth: Marseille, an essential support for Paris 2024

Marseille will welcome the next Olympic Games in all its dimensions. Located in the south of France and recently designated as the point of origin of the iconic Olympic flame route, it will put its Old Port (Vieux-Port), its waters of the Navy and its Vélodrome stadium at the service of Paris 2024.

The Olympic flame, which will disembark at one of the most emblematic western ports after a 10-day trip through the Mediterranean Sea, will sail along the French coast immersed in a journey that will begin in the spring of 2024. The other cities that will serve as stopovers on the way of the torch to the Olympic Stadium will be announced at the end of May of this year.

Tony Estanguet, president of the Paris 2024 Organizing Committee, explained that the election took place “very naturally and obviously” as it was a land “passionate about sports, welcoming, popular and multicultural”. In turn, Mayor Benoit Payan intervened to shed light on the unavoidable link with Greece, the cradle of the Games: “Marseille was founded by Greeks who arrived from Phocaea 2,600 years ago. By asking to receive the flame on our shores, we wanted to renew this great story of exchange, brotherhood, diversity and solidarity.”

The second most populated city in the host country will play a substantive role for the Games, since the full sailing program will also be held there. Between July 28 and August 8, there will be 10 specialties that will award medals in the waters of the Marseille Navy, three of which will debut at the Olympic Games this year: men’s and women’s Kiteboard (formula kite class), Windsurfing for men and women (IQFoil) and Dingui mixed for two people (470). Meanwhile, the Finn and RS:X races were withdrawn. In July, less than a year before the start, “test events” will be held, some of them qualifiers, in order for sailors to begin to familiarize themselves with the competition conditions.

The Paris 2024 soccer competition, on the other hand, will be spread across seven cities in France and Marseille will not go unnoticed: 10 of the 58 matches they will offer between the men’s and women’s competitions will be played there. Of the stadiums chosen, the Véldrome, home of Olympique, the French national team on a number of occasions and world cup semifinals, is the largest, with capacity for more than 67,000 spectators.

In addition to Marseille, other French cities will serve as venues for specific disciplines at the Games. For instance, Lille will host handball starting from the quarterfinals, while Vaires-sur-Varne will host canoeing and rowing. In football, they will accompany Paris and Marseille, of course, Lyon, Bourdeaux, Saint-Étienne, Nice and Nantes.