The Olympic Torch Relay: From Olympia to Paris: Unbroken

#VillageValues

Jul 14

Sacred Fire

The **ancient Greeks** maintained a **perpetual flame** on the altar of **Hestia**, the goddess of the hearth and home, in Olympia during the ancient Olympic Games. This tradition of the **sacred fire** inspired the modern **Olympic torch**, which was first introduced in the **Amsterdam Olympics** in **1928**. The **Olympic Torch Relay** began in the **Berlin Olympics** in 1936. The Torch is lit with the **sun’s rays** and remains continuously lit throughout the Relay.
The **Olympic Games** opens with a torch ceremony in **Olympia, Greece**, and concludes in the host country, involving thousands of torchbearers carrying a torch through cultural and historical sites.

In 2024, the Olympic Torch Relay began on April 16 in Olympia and reached Marseille, France, on May 8, where it will travel throughout France before concluding at the Opening Ceremony in Paris on July 26, 2024. Enthusiasts can follow each stage of the Relay on the Olympics website (Torch Relay & Map). Some highlights include:

Lighting Ceremony (April 16, 2024)
Relay in Greece
Handover Ceremony
Crossing the Mediterranean
Arrival in Marseille
Paris, Day 1
Paris, Day 2
Arrival at the Olympic Village (July 26, 2024)

Torchbearers

Of the 11,000 torchbearers, some notable names include the following:

Romane Dicko
Thierry Henry
Enzo Lefort
Sandra Laoura
Blaise Matuidi
Hugo Marchand
Dorothée Gilbert

For more background, please also visit www.sortiraparis.com.

To honor Olympic traditions and values, we translated "fire," '“friendship,” “respect,” and “excellence” into the primary language of countries that have won the most Olympic gold medals: