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2024 Summer Olympic Games in Paris

French vessel Belem takes 2024 Olympic flame from Athens to Marseilles

The ceremonial lighting of the Olympic flame for the 2024 Summer Olympic Games in Paris took place in Ancient Olympia on April 16

ATHENS, April 27. /TASS/. The famous French three-masted ship, the Belem, sailed off from the Greek port of Piraeus to Marseilles in France carrying the flame of the 2024 Summer Olympic Games in Paris, a TASS correspondent reported on Saturday.

The vessel is carrying a lantern with the Olympic flame, which was handed over during the official ceremony in Athens by head of the Greek National Olympic Committee Spyros Capralos to the President of the Paris 2024 Organizing Committee, Tony Estanguet.

According to a statement from the 2024 Summer Olympic Games organizers, "In 1896 the first Olympic Games of the modern era took place in Greece. That same year, approximately 2,000 kilometers away at a shipyard in France, the Belem was born."

"The 12-day voyage between Piraeus and Marseille will add another chapter to the remarkable story of the ship, which was honored as a historic monument 40 years ago," the statement reads.

The ceremonial lighting of the Olympic flame for the 2024 Summer Olympic Games in Paris took place in Ancient Olympia on April 16. That day, Greek President Katerina Sakellaropoulou, President of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) Thomas Bach, President of the Greek National Olympic Committee Spyros Capralos and other officials were in attendance.

The ritual of lighting the Olympic flame dates back to the ancient Olympic Games in Greece. It is a reminder of the legend of titan Prometheus, who stole fire from the Gods and gave it to human beings as a gift. The modern tradition was revived in 1928, at the Amsterdam Olympics, when the Olympic flame was for the first time lit at the main stadium. And in 1936, before the Olympic Games in Berlin, a torch relay was held for the first time in modern history.

The 2024 Summer Olympic Games will be hosted by the French capital of Paris between July 26 and August 11.

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