Not each athlete will get the possibility to compete for his or her nation on the Olympic Video games. Nonetheless, many non- members do have the chance to fulfil one other dream: participating within the Olympic torch relay.
This cultural side of the Olympic Video games showcases the most effective of the host nation and kicks off the thrilling build-up to the largest sporting occasion on the planet. Since 8 Might, when the Olympic flame arrived in Marseille from Athens, it has wended its manner via 400 cities and cities in France and its abroad territories within the French West Indies, French Guyana, Reunion Islands and French Polynesia, ending its journey in central Paris.
On 26 July, the world witnessed a spectacular opening ceremony on the River Seine.
From a pool of over 20,000 folks from the world of sport, leisure, arts and commerce – in addition to group leaders and on a regular basis heroes – the Olympic committee chosen 11,000 who exhibit the values of the 2024 Olympics. These embody a dedication to selling sport, embodying French excellence, and striving for a extra sustainable, inclusive, and fairer society, with a deal with solidarity.
Charles Coste, 100, torch bearer at Colombes, Hauts-de-Seine, Parisian area
Coste’s Herne Hill triumph is a golden reminiscence
(Picture credit score: Getty Photos)
When my native city corridor at Bois-Colombes [a north- western suburb of Paris] knowledgeable me a number of months in the past that I might be carrying the Olympic torch, I used to be so pleased. It’s an awesome honour to hold the flame at your property Video games.
I received my gold medal within the staff pursuit on the London 1948 Olympics, at Herne Hill Velodrome. I knew the monitor very effectively as a result of I’d raced there numerous occasions. The primary time was in 1946 and later I raced there throughout 1947. It was a stunning massive monitor of simply over 400m, I recall. It was a tough floor, however for the four-man staff that I shaped with Serge Blusson, Pierre Adam, and Fernand Decanali, the floor suited us, as we had been additionally roadies.
England was nonetheless in shock following the warfare and the bombardments, however the organisation was excellent. We lodged in flats close to the velodrome that had been used to accommodate the American airforce.
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The British had been the favourites, although we knew them effectively, as we had raced in opposition to them all year long. They had been our opponents within the semi-final, and we beat them, breaking the course document within the course of.
Within the finals we raced the Italians, who got here out of the blocks all weapons blazing, and we fell behind, however our staff labored collectively to tug them again, and so they misplaced one man. Ultimately we beat them by a superb margin. It was an awesome environment, as the group cheered us on regardless that we’d overwhelmed the British staff.
The final time the Olympic Video games had been held in Paris was in 1924, however I didn’t see a lot, as I used to be a child. So I’m glad to have the ability to see the Video games this time, and to be carrying the Olympic torch on 24 July, 2024. I’ve knee ache because of arthritis and I’ve to stroll with a zimmer body, so I don’t know precisely how lengthy I’ll carry the torch for, however I need to carry it for a number of metres – sufficient for the photograph alternative.
They’ll be great Video games. While you assume that there’ll be occasions on the Grand Palais, the Eiffel Tower, cycle racing on the Arc de Triomphe, and equestrian occasions on the Château de Versailles, solely France can present such a spectacular backdrop. I actually want Tony Estanguet [president, Paris 2024 Olympics] plenty of luck with internet hosting the Video games.
Bernard Hinault, 69, torchbearer at Pic du Midi de Bigorre, Hautes-Pyrénées
Hinault is a five-time winner of the Tour de France
(Picture credit score: Alamy)
It was an awesome pleasure to be a torchbearer for the Paris Olympic Video games on 19 Might, particularly as a result of as an expert racer I used to be not allowed to compete within the Olympic cycle race. It’s as sensible as if I had received the Tour de France!
I beforehand carried the Olympic torch for the 1994 Winter Olympics in Albertville. That was in Paris with Michel Drucker, a well known presenter on French tv. On this event, at Pic du Midi de Bigorre, I used to be with Nicolas Lopez, an Olympic champion fencer. The view of our torches because the solar rose behind the mountains within the early morning was spectacular. I needed to rise up at 4am to be on the mountain for 6am, and it was barely 1°C, nevertheless it was value it.
The division the place I reside, the Côtes-d’Armor in Brittany, determined to not host the Olympic torch relay as a result of they felt the price of doing so was too excessive. However then I used to be invited by the Hautes-Pyrénées division to participate of their leg of the relay. Pic du Midi de Bigorre is simply above the Tourmalet, which was an important place in my racing profession.
I’m trying ahead to the Video games, however given the restrictions in place round Paris, I’ll watch the Olympics on the TV.
Within the biking, I’m trying ahead to seeing Van der Poel, Van Aert, and Pogačar if they’re chosen. Pogačar is a dream to observe, and I like how he likes to assault. It jogs my memory of how I was – and why not have just a little Frenchman within the combine too!
Refugee Gebru fled Ethiopia
(Picture credit score: SWPix)
Torch-bearing racers
In addition to the above legends of biking, numerous skilled street racers and personalities in biking have carried the Olympic torch.
Eyeru Tesfoam Gebru (Group Komugi-Grand Est) on 30 Might at Bayeux, Calvados: the primary individual from an Olympic refugee staff to participate in an Olympic torch relay, Eyeru fled her native Ethiopia in 2021, in search of asylum in France and becoming a member of an expert staff.
Jean-René Bernaudeau, staff supervisor, Complete Energies on 4 June at Vendée: in addition to being head of a number one UCI ProTeam, Bernaudeau has spent over 40 years getting younger folks within the Vendée area concerned in biking.
Arnaud Démare (Arkéa-B&B Motels) was pencilled in to hold the torch at Beauvais, Hauts- de-France on 18 July, however clearly opted to remain within the Tour de France as an alternative, ending in a small group of sprinters in Barcelonnette on stage 18. This was regardless of the very fact the ultimate dash stage was two days earlier than in Nîmes.
Audrey Cordon-Ragot (Human Powered Well being) for the Paralympic relay on 25 August at Morbihan, Brittany: having recovered from a stroke in 2022, the Bretonne got here again combating and secured a nationwide TT title in addition to choice for her third Video games, and is eager to finish her remaining yr as a professional on a excessive.
Anne-Caroline Chausson, 46
Chausson grew to become the BMX occasion’s first winner in 2008
(Picture credit score: Getty Photos)
Taking part within the Olympic torch relay on 19 June was an eventful day. We travelled as much as Chalet Reynard by automobile with a gaggle of ladies who had been chosen by the French Biking Federation. Then we got our relay outfits, and briefed on how the day would go. There was loads of deal with safety, and if you carry the Olympic torch, you may have a safety bubble round you. Though the Olympic torch is an emblem for peace, there’s nonetheless a danger of demonstrators attempting to place out the flame or snatching it from you.
From Chalet Reynard we emerged from the forest onto the moonscape space and I cycled the ultimate kilometre with a gaggle of about 24 cyclists, and led the group as much as the summit. In entrance of a crowd of spectators, Miguel Martinez, an Olympic champion mountain biker, handed me the Olympic torch. It was an exquisite second and I used to be proud to symbolize biking on this manner. We had been fortunate with the climate too, because it had been very wet within the space within the days earlier than.
Residing close to Bédoin, and main the Olympic torch relay up Mont Ventoux, a symbolic place in biking, was actually emotional. I savoured each second of it, understanding that I wouldn’t get to carry the torch for lengthy.
Once I received Olympic gold, it was the primary time BMX racing was within the Olympics and I used to be the primary winner of the ladies’s occasion. On the time, many individuals had mentioned I wouldn’t reach BMX as a result of I used to be a mountain biker, and as a 30-year-old I used to be deemed too outdated. I moved to Vaucluse particularly to coach for BMX and did so for 18 months, after not having executed it for 13 years. Profitable was an enormous second, however eventful too, as Shanaze Reade crashed through the remaining.
As a former Olympic champion, you now not get to participate in main sporting occasions on or off the bike, so carrying the Olympic flame was actually one thing particular. I’m trying ahead to watching the mountain biking and BMX occasions in Paris. The French are prone to do effectively within the mountain biking, particularly among the many ladies, with Loana [Lecomte] and Pauline [Ferrand- Prévot]. Pauline is mentally much more mature than in earlier Olympics, and I feel that may make the distinction this time.
