Exactly three months before the Olympic Games begin, the Olympic flame has been handed over, transitioning from its Greek origins to the French stage, signifying the next chapter in its journey towards Paris. The ceremony, hosted by the Hellenic Olympic Committee, unfolded in Athens’ iconic Panathenaic Stadium, which hosted the first Olympic Games of the modern era in 1896, embodying a message of peace and unity.

The handover ceremony, concluding the 11-day Greek stage of the Olympic Torch Relay, saw the flame enter the stadium with Greek athletics Olympian Antigoni Ntrismpioti. She passed it to the French Olympic gold and silver medallist in figure skating, Gabriella Papadakis, who has Greek heritage, before it was then given to France’s multiple Paralympic swimming gold medallist Béatrice Hess. The ceremony culminated with the lighting of the Panathenaic Stadium cauldron by the high priestess, who received the Olympic flame from Greece’s Ioannis Fountoulis, an Olympic silver medallist in water polo.mpic silver medallist in water polo.

(ΑΝΤΩΝΗΣ ΝΙΚΟΛΟΠΟΥΛΟΣ / EUROKINISSI)

Using the flames from the cauldron, the high priestess lit a final torch, passing it to Hellenic Olympic Committee President and International Olympic Committee (IOC) Member Spyros Capralos. He then presented the torch to the President of the Paris 2024 Organising Committee, Tony Estanguet, marking the official transition and beginning the final countdown to the Opening Ceremony of the Olympic Games Paris 2024 on 26 July.

This symbolic gesture represents not only the end of one journey but also the exciting start of another, as anticipation builds for the upcoming Games in France.

The event in Athens was witnessed by thousands of spectators and numerous dignitaries, such as IOC Vice-President Ser Miang Ng, President of the Association of National Olympic Committees and IOC Executive Board member Robin Mitchell, Chair of the IOC’s Paris 2024 Coordination Commission and IOC Member Pierre-Olivier Beckers-Vieujant and the French Minister of Sports and the Olympic and Paralympic Games, Amélie Oudéa-Castéra. The ICMG Secretary General Iakovos Filippousis was also present. Τhe ceremony also included a performance from iconic Greek artist Nana Mouskouri, who performed both the French and Greek national anthems.

With the Greek stage now over, the Olympic flame will board the historic French three-masted ship, Belem. The voyage across the Mediterranean will then begin, symbolising the enduring friendship between Greece and France. On 8 May, the flame will arrive in the port of Marseille, the oldest city in France, founded some 2,600 years ago by Greek sailors, heralding the start of celebratory festivities in the host nation.

 (ΑΝΤΩΝΗΣ ΝΙΚΟΛΟΠΟΥΛΟΣ / EUROKINISSI)

(ΑΝΤΩΝΗΣ ΝΙΚΟΛΟΠΟΥΛΟΣ / EUROKINISSI)

(ΑΝΤΩΝΗΣ ΝΙΚΟΛΟΠΟΥΛΟΣ / EUROKINISSI)