Paris 2024 flame to be lit on April 16

The Paris 2024 Olympic Games flame will be lit on April 16, marking the countdown to the July 26-Aug. 11 event in the French capital, organisers said on Friday.

The flame will be lit at Greece’s ancient Olympia, the birthplace of the Games, and will remain in the country until its departure to France from Athens on April 27. It will arrive in Marseille on May 8.

The torch relay will stay in metropolitan France – notably going through Montpellier, Corsica, Bordeaux and the Mont Saint Michel – until June 7, when it will leave the port city of Brest by boat for a relay in France’s overseas territory. It will return to mainland France by boat on June 18.

“It’s going to be spectacular and will showcase all our territories,” Paris 2024 president Tony Estanguet said at a ceremony at the French capital’s Sorbonne university.