Witnessed by French President Emmanuel Macron and more than 100,000 spectators, the Paris Olympic flame arrived in Marseille, a port city in southern France, on the 8th. From the 9th, the flame of the Paris Olympics will start to be passed on the French mainland.
On May 8, the sailing ship "Bellham", carrying the flame of the Paris Olympic Games, arrived in Marseille. Xinhua News Agency (Photo by Julian Mattia)
At about 11 o'clock in the afternoon, the sailing ship "Berham", carrying the Olympic flame, arrived in the waters near the port of Marseille. More than 1,000 ships of all kinds greeted the arrival of the Tinder on the sea, and accompanied the "Bellem" on a sea cruise along the coast near the old port of Marseille.
In the evening, with the audience singing the French national anthem "La Marseillaise", the "Berham" slowly sailed into the port, and the famous "French Patrol" air show team roared over the port, displaying the Olympic rings and the French flag.
On May 8, the "French Patrol" air show team performed at the Tinder Welcoming Ceremony. Xinhua News Agency (Photo by Julian Mattia)
After the Berham docked, the Marseille Symphony Orchestra began to play the theme song of the Paris Olympic Games, "Parade". At about 19:30, the 2012 London Olympic swimming champion Florent Manodou, as the first torchbearer in France, walked down the "Bellham" with the torch in his hand, symbolizing the official landing of the Olympic flame in France.
"We are very proud." "The torch has arrived on French soil and the Olympics have officially entered the lives of the French people," Macron said. ”
Florent Manodou (centre), France's first torchbearer and London 2012 Olympic swimming champion, walks off the sailboat Bellham with the torch in his hands on 8 May. Xinhua News Agency (Photo by Julian Mattia)
After stepping off the boat, Manodou handed the torch to another Marseille-born French Paralympic sprinter, Nantainan Keita, who passed the torch to Marseille native rapper Julien Marie (stage name "JuL"), who lit the tinder.
The Olympic flame was successfully collected in Ancient Olympia, Greece on April 16, and after the relay was completed in Greece, the Olympic flame was officially handed over to the Paris Organising Committee by the Hellenic Olympic Committee on April 26, and set sail from the port of Piraeus in Athens to France the next day.
It is worth mentioning that the "Berham", which was used to carry the Olympic flame, was built in 1896, the year when the first modern Olympic Games were held in Greece.
On May 8, the sailing ship "Bellham", carrying the flame of the Paris Olympic Games, arrived in Marseille. Xinhua News Agency (Photo by Julian Mattia)
From the 9th, the Olympic torch will be carried in France and abroad. On 26 July, the Olympic flame will be lit at the Olympic cauldron in Paris. (Xinhua News Agency reporter Xiao Yazhuo)