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The route of the Olympic flameLoading...
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Route From Greece
The Paris 2024 Olympic Games promise a spectacular journey of the Olympic flame through major sites in France to the capital. This route, unveiled by Anne Hidalgo and Tony Estanguet, President of the Organising Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games, at a special ceremony at the Musée Carnavalet on the 3rd of July 2023, promises a unique route for the Olympic flame to follow all the way to the capital, Paris.
The Olympic flame, also represented in the form of the Olympic torch, is one of the basic symbols of the Olympic Games. It is reminiscent of the fire that, according to legend, Prometheus stole from Zeus and gave to the people. The origin of this symbol comes from ancient Greece, where the fire was kept burning for the duration of the Games. This custom was revived at the 1928 Summer Olympics in Amsterdam. Since 1936, the Olympic torch relay, introduced by Carl Diem, has been part of the modern Olympic tradition and is not of ancient origin.
Nowadays, the torch is ceremoniously lit in ancient Olympia, Greece, usually a few weeks before the start of the Olympics. Eleven women represent the priestesses. With the help of the sun's rays, they light the torch. The flame is then carried around the world in a relay fashion to the Games venue. The actual lighting of the giant torch in the stadium is entrusted to a prominent person (most often former athletes who have made their mark in the history of sport and the Olympic Games).
