An Ocean Relay for Paris 2024

An Ocean Relay for Paris 2024

by Philip Barker

Paris 2024 President Tony Estanguet has insisted the Olympic Flame’s voyage across the oceans is a “a shot in the arm,” as it returns to the French mainland.

He joined the Maxi Banque Populaire trimaran in Martinique, after a journey which has taken it to the farthest flung outpost of the Paris 2024 Games in Tahiti where Olympic surfing will take place.

The trimaran was skippered by renowned ocean sailor Armel Le Cléac’h accompanied on each stage by legendary champions.

The flame continued to Martinique with Estanguet, swimmer Coralie Balmy a 4x200m freestyle bronze medallist at London 2012, sailor Keni Pipérol-Dampied and surfer Thomas Debierre on board.

“What a privilege it was to live this exceptional moment alongside this legendary crew,” Estanguet said.

“These days in the Antilles are a golden opportunity to gauge the magnitude of local support for our project. It’s a real shot in the arm.”

The ocean voyage had begun from Finistère in North West France.

Triple Olympic gold medallist Marie Jose-Perec, actor Alexis Michalik and two-star Michelin chef Hugo Roellinger, joined skipper Armel Le Cléac’h on the trimaran for the voyage.

It was the first time the Olympic Flame had crossed the Atlantic by sea since 1968, when it had been carried aboard the Spanish navy corvette “La Princesa” for the journey to San Salvador in the Bahamas with ISOH member Conrado Durantez amongst the passengers.

The 2024 Torch made landfall in French Guiana and travelled by pirogue (a canoe fashioned from a log) along the Oyapock river through the Amazonian rainforest. It then visited the former site of the infamous penal colony Saint-Laurent du Maroni, a place almost as notorious as “Devil’s Island.”

The “Collective” Relay, a feature of the Paris 2024, was organised by the French Judo Federation with London 2012 under 70-kilo gold medallist Lucie D’Ecosse.

The Relay travelled to a sports centre named in her honour.

The Flame was also carried by breakdancer Danis Civil who performs as “Dany Dann,” and is set to compete at the sport’s debut in Paris.

It also visited Spaceport, the launching site for European space missions.

The final cauldron in Cayenne was lit by Malia Metella who’d won the 50m freestyle silver at the Athens Games 20 years ago.

The Ocean Relay then took the Flame to the Indian Ocean and Reunion, known as the “intense island.”

Here the “Collective” was organised by the French Gymnastics Federation.

It was also taken on by Marie-Thérèse Georget, still running 12 kilometres a day at the age of 85.
The celebratory cauldron was lit by double Olympic handball champion Daniel Narcisse in his home city of Saint Denis.

Earlier in the day, Jackson Richardson, handball bronze medallist at the 1992 Barcelona Games had also taken part.

The surfing competitions in Tahiti at Paris 2024 are set to be the first time that Olympic medals have been decided concurrently in separate continents. In 1956, Equestrian events were held in Stockholm but these were held some five months before the other Olympic competitions in Melbourne.

The visit to the French Polynesian archipelago began at dawn with a call on Teahupo’o where the surfing is scheduled to begin on July 27.

At the Pointe Fare Mahora, the “Collective” organised by the Tahiti Surfing Federation featured local surfing hero Hira Teriinatoofa, a long-time competitor in the World Surf League who now works as a coach with the French team.

He was joined by 23 others including para-surfer Toareia Bordes, Amy Tauria, the local bodyboard champion, and Prisca Amaru, who had founded the first surfing school in Moorea.

Kauli Vaast and Vahine Fierro both sealed their Olympic places at the 2023 World Surfing Games in El Salvador and were also present for the festivities.

Michel Demont, another revered name who won World Championship gold in 1994 also took part alongside Para cyclist Christian Ti Paon, who had lost a leg after a traffic accident but subsequently won World Championships.

The Flame was taken throughout the archipelago, north-west to Teva I Uta, where it made its way among the hundreds of varieties of exotic flowers, plants and trees in the Harrison Smith Botanical Gardens and then to Motu Ovint by the sea.

In Papara, the Flame made its way along a beach of black sand which stretches for more than 10 kilometres.

There was also a visit to the tomb of the last King of Tahiti, Pōmare V. He abdicated in 1880 ceding Tahiti and its dependencies to France.

In Papeete, it passed through the sports complex named in honour of Willy Bambridge, a goalkeeper for the French side Stade Rennais in the 1930s and was capped by France at amateur level before returning to Tahiti after the war.

120 bearers carried the Flame in the region. They included singer Vaimalama Chaves, who had been crowned Miss Tahiti in 2018, Miss France in 2019 and took part in “Danse avec les Stars.” in 2021.

The celebratory cauldron at the Place de To’ata in Papeete was lit by surfer Michel Bourez who finished in a four-way tie for fifth in men’s shortboard at the inaugural Olympic competition in Tokyo.

The Flame was also to have visited New Caledonia but the stage was cancelled after unrest in the region.

As the Flame returned to the Caribbean, it fell to Perec to carry the Flame in Guadeloupe, the land of her birth.

Her fellow gold medallist from Atlanta 1996, fencer Laura Flessel, individual and team epee champion, was the team captain for the “Collective” which involved fencers from the region.

The Flame was also carried by sprinter Raymonde Nebot, a competitor in both Moscow and Los Angeles and by her fellow sprinter, Christine Arron, 4×100 m relay bronze medallist at Athens 2004.

The final cauldron was lit by BMX rider Véronique Vatran after the crowd counted down at the stadium in Baie Mahault.

@lu.cas971_aby

La flamme olympique en Guadeloupe, porté par madame Veronique Vatran 🔥🔥🔥 #guadeloupe #JO #france #jeuxolympiques #flammeolympique

♬ son original – LucABY

In Martinique, the final celebrations of the Ocean Relay began at the Montagne Pelée volcano.

The “Collective” Relay was organised by basketball players and led by Lucas Duféal, who won European gold with France at Under 20 level last year in Heraklion.

The final cauldron was lit at Le Malecon, in the island’s capital Forte de France by Jocelyne Béroard, lead singer with Creole Zouk group Kassav.

It echoed the lighting of the first cauldron on French soil by rapper Jul, over a month ago in Marseille.

The Flame returns to the French mainland at Alpes-Maritimes with 34 stages still to complete before the Opening Ceremony on July 26th.