The Olympic flame landed on French soil amid tight security on Wednesday, firing the starting gun on a summer extravaganza of sport that French President Emmanuel Macron hopes will showcase the splendors of France and burnish his legacy.
The flame arrived in Marseille, a port city in southern France founded by Greek merchants, after a 12-day trip from Greece onboard the Belem, a 128-year-old three-masted tall ship that once transported sugar from France's colonies in the West Indies.
The torch was brought onto land by Florent Manaudou, France's 2012 Olympic men's 50-meter freestyle swimming champion, who handed it to Paralympic sprinter Nantenin Keita, a 400-meter gold medalist at the Rio Games in 2016.
She passed it on to Marseille-born rapper Jul, who lit the cauldron in front of an ecstatic crowd estimated at 150,000.
Earlier, a flotilla of pleasure boats welcomed the Belem to French shores.
"It marks the end of preparations, the Games arrive in the life of the French people," Macron said. "The flame is here, we can be proud."
Around 7,000 law enforcement officers, including snipers and dog units, secured Marseille's Old Port, a stress test for the Paris 2024 organizers with France on its highest state of security alert against a complex geopolitical backdrop.
"There's a huge security issue at stake," Macron said. "We will be ready. We will be on alert until the last second."
"It's an unprecedented level of security," Interior minister Gerald Darmanin said. "Life goes on in Marseille, but under great security."
From Marseille, the torch will continue on an 11-week odyssey that will see it crisscross France and visit French overseas territories in the Caribbean as well as the Indian and Pacific oceans.
In all, it will be carried by 10,000 torchbearers before reaching Paris for the Games' opening ceremony on July 26.
Instead of a traditional opening ceremony, held in a stadium, France has planned a ritzy river parade along a six-kilometer stretch of the River Seine, ending at the foot of the Eiffel Tower.
Sun-baked Marseille, France's second city, provides a different spectacle to the formal elegance of Paris, and large crowds gathered around the Old Port to watch.
"It was the obvious choice," Tony Estanguet, president of the Paris 2024 organizing committee, said of Marseille, which was founded around 600 BC by Greek settlers from Phocea.
Despite a history of gang crime and poverty, its turquoise creeks and Mediterranean accents encapsulate the French southern charms that have beguiled artists and movie stars for generations.
Sports competitions have long offered nations the opportunity to exert soft power and advance their geopolitical goals. This week, Chinese President Xi Jinping voiced support for Macron's call for a global truce during the 2024 Paris Games.
Suspending armed conflicts under an "Olympic truce" is a longstanding tradition. French officials hope Xi's endorsement is a sign that he could use his influence to persuade Russia to honor a truce in Ukraine when Russian President Vladimir Putin travels to China later this month.
Paris itself has come to take an increasingly important role in France's diplomatic and commercial strategies.
Last year, Pharrell Williams staged his debut menswear collection for Louis Vuitton along Paris' Pont Neuf bridge, with large crowds gathered along the banks of the Seine for a glimpse of his celebrity audience.
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