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What is the Route for the 2024 Paris Olympic and Paralympic Torch Relays?
The Olympic and Paralympic Torch Relays will serve as a spectacular show of teamwork and culture as the iconic Olympic flame travels through 65 French regions and territories before arriving in Paris.
During the spring and early summer, the Olympic flame will be illuminating numerous regions across France and their overseas territories as part of the Paris 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Torch Relays.
The torch was lit on Monday, April 15 in Olympia, Greece, in commemoration of the Olympics' historical birthplace. It then began its journey to Athens to board the “Belem,” a three-masted ship that will carry the torch across the ocean to land in its first stop in France – Marseille.
From May 8 to July 26, thousands of people – from Olympic athletes to volunteers – will carry the torch through more than 400 towns across France and French territories until its last stop in Paris for the Olympic Games Opening Ceremony.
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The history of the Olympic Torch Relay
The first torch relay took place for the 1936 Summer Games in Berlin, when the Olympic flame was first carried from Olympia to the German host city, according to the International Olympic Committee.
The torch is traditionally kindled in Olympia, in an event organized by the Hellenic Olympic Committee. The 2024 Olympic Torch Relay will have 600 torchbearers carry the flame across 41 towns in Greece until it reaches the Panathenaic Stadium in Athens, where it will cross the Mediterranean to start its epic journey around France, according to Paris 2024.
Every relay is an opportunity to celebrate the history and culture of the host nation. This year, the Olympic Flame will journey past iconic sites, such as the Lascaux caves, home to hundreds of prehistoric paintings believed to date back up to 17,000 years ago; the archaeological site at Alesia, where Julius Caesar defeated the Gauls in 52 B.C.E; the palace at Versailles, built by King Louis XIV in the 1660s.
Torchbearers will also travel across the Atlantic, Indian and Pacific oceans to reach six French territories: French Guiana, New Caledonia, Réunion, French Polynesia, Guadeloupe, and Martinique.
Who will be participating?
A selected 10,000 torchbearers will participate in the Olympic Torch Relay, consisting of 69 team relays of 24 people. Each team is made up of champions, everyday athletes, volunteers, referees, coaches and more, who are members of the 34 Olympic and Paralympic Federations, according to Paris 2024.
Stephanos Ntouskos, who won an individual gold medal for Greece in rowing at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, was the first bearer of the Olympic torch as it began its journey through Greece. The final torchbearer in Greece will be Ioannis Fountoulis, a silver medal-winning Greek water polo player from the 2020 Games, who will hand the flame to President of Greece's National Olympic Committee Spyros Capralos, who will then transfer it to the Paris organizing committee on April 26, according to Olympics.com.
The 1,000 torchbearers that make up the six Paralympic Torch Relay team relays will highlight groups deeply involved in the Paralympic Movement. This includes volunteers from the Paralympic federation, exceptional young para-athletes, all-star Paralympians, innovators using sport for social impact and supporters of those who are disabled.
The relays will capture the value of sport and teamwork in France, showcasing spectacular events, like skateboarding through Bordeaux, archery at Château de Compiègne and cycling around Mont-Saint-Michel.
“The Torch Relay is, above all, a human adventure, represented by the stories of each Torchbearer,” said Paris 2024 President Tony Estanguet, per Paris 2024. “Be they athletes or sports enthusiasts, committed to their local communities or involved in meaningful community projects, the people we call the Forerunners represent the richness and diversity of our society. With them, the Torch Relay will be a wonderful moment of openness, transmission and sharing.”
What is the Olympic Torch Relay Route?
For 68 days, the Olympic Flame will visit 65 French regions and territories.
May 8: Marseille
May 9: Marseille
May 10: Var
May 11: Alpes-de-Haute-Provence
May 12: Bouches-du-Rhône
May 13: Millau-Sète-Montpellier
May 14: Corse
May 15: Pyrénées-Orientales
May 16: Aude
May 17: Haute-Garonne
May 18: Gers
May 19: Hautes-Pyrénées
May 20: Pyrénées-Atlantiques
May 22: Dordogne
May 23: Bordeaux et le libournais
May 24: Charente
May 25: Vienne
May 27: Indre
May 28: Maine-et-Loire
May 29: Mayenne
May 30: Calvados
May 31: Manche
June 1: Ille-et-Vilaine
June 2: Deux-Sèvres
June 4: Vendée
June 5: Entre Loire et Atlantique
June 6: Morbihan
June 7: Finistère
June 9: Guyane
June 12: La Réunion
June 13: Polynésie Française
June 15: Guadeloupe
June 17: Martinique
June 18: Alpes-Maritimes
June 19: Vaucluse
June 20: Drôme
June 21: Vichy
June 22: Loire
June 23: Haute-Savoie
June 25: Doubs
June 26: Collectivité Européenne d'Alsace
June 27: Moselle
June 28: Haute-Marne
June 29: Meuse
June 30: Marne
July 2: Nord
July 3: Pas-de-Calais
July 4: Somme
July 5: Seine-Maritime
July 6; Eure
July 7: C'Chartres
July 8: Loir-et-Cher
July 10: Loiret
July 11: Yonne
July 12: Côte-d'Or
July 13: Aube
July 14: Paris
July 15: Paris
July 17: Aisne
July 18: Oise
July 19: Val-d'Oise
July 20: Seine-et-Marne
July 21: Val-de-Marne
July 22: Essonne
July 23: Yvelines
July 24: Hauts-de-Seine
July 25: Seine-Saint-Denis
July 26: Paris
To watch the torch ignite the Olympic cauldron in Paris, tune in to our Opening Ceremony coverage July 26 on NBC and Peacock.
