IOA Masters students at one with the Flame in Zacharo.
Academy Students Join Paris 2024 Torch Relay
by Philip Barker at the International Olympic Academy in Olympia
Students from the International Olympic Academy (IOA) Masters in Olympic Studies programme have taken the Paris 2024 Olympic Torch Relay.
They were visibly moved as they joined IOA Dean and ISOH Committee member Kostas Georgiadis for a leg of the Relay in the town of Zacharo in the Western Peloponnese.
“It was a very emotional moment and a memory to last a lifetime,” said student Jo Weisen from Luxembourg.
“Being part of the official Olympic Torch Relay for Paris was something I could have only dreamed of. Life has a mysterious way of unfolding sometimes. Sharing this remarkable moment with friends from the IOA has added an extra layer of emotion to this experience.”
Very few Luxembourgers had ever carried the Flame as the Torch Relay had only visited the Grand Duchy in 1948.
Earlier the students had been present for the lighting Ceremony in the ancient Stadium.
“I feel profoundly fortunate to have this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity and to experience the Olympic spirit up close. These moments within the Olympic movement feel like a beacon of light amidst the complexity the world is currently facing,” said Mexico’s Claudia Olmedo.
“Words can’t capture the depth of gratitude and excitement I feel right now,” added Sadhvi Bhadauria from India.
IOA Students have traditionally watched the Torch Lighting Ceremony and a group participated for the first time in the Taigetos Mountains above Sparta during the Relay for Atlanta 1996.
More recently, it has been groups from the IOA Masters programme who have taken part in what has become a minor tradition.
Among other flag bearers was Dr. Dionyssis Gangas, former Hellenic Olympic Committee Secretary and now Senior advisor to the IOA President.
Later the Torch had visited the house of 1912 Standing Long Jump champion Konstantinos Tsiklitiras in Pylos.
From there it set out towards Tripolis, close to Tegea, a place where discussions about establishing a Torch Relay took place 90 years ago.
The Flame is scheduled to make the first of a number of visits to the port of Piraeus from where it is scheduled to travel to the island of Crete.
The itinerary in Greece this year is the most extensive for any Games other than Athens 2004.
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