Torchbearers will carry the torch through the streets of Marseille, a port city in southern France, a day after it arrived on a majestic three-masted ship for a welcoming ceremony.
The torch will begin an 11-week journey across the country, passing through more than 450 towns with around 10,000 torch bearers, until the Olympic opening ceremony in Paris on July 26.
Basil Boli, a former soccer player who played for the Marseille team in the 1990s, will start Thursday’s first relay from the Notre-Dame de la Garde cathedral, overlooking Marseille and the Mediterranean Sea.
Basketball player Tony Parker was scheduled to take his turn on the relay later Thursday.
A fencing champion, a skateboarder, a Michelin-starred chef and a comedian were also chosen to carry the torch.
Participants were scheduled to run throughout the day through the city’s most emblematic locations to carry the torch to the roof of the famous Stade Vélodrome, home to Marseille’s passionate soccer fans.
Marseille Mayor Benoît Payen announced that more than 230,000 people attended the ceremony at the Old Port, and the city celebrated the arrival of the torch in style on Wednesday.
“It’s just incredible, just magical,” resident Amel Secco said.
“We needed it. There has never been an event like this, such a beautiful thing in Marseille.”
“It’s something you have to experience at least once in your life…We have the sun and the Olympic torch,” said Mouna Boullhas, also a resident of Marseille.
During the tournament, Marseille will host sailing competitions and several soccer matches.
