Paris 2024 torch relays called 'the Forerunners’ Relays' to celebrate historic Games

The Paralympic Torch Relay will take place in August 2024 featuring about 1,000 runners 01 Jun 2023
Imagen
A graphic of the Paris 2024 torch relays
The Paralympic flame will be lit in Stoke Mandeville, Great Britain, the birthplace of the Paralympic Movement.
ⒸParis 2024
By Paris 2024 and IPC

The Paris 2024 Paralympic and Olympic torch relays will be known as the “Forerunners’ Relays”, featuring about 11,000 runners taking part to pave the way for the celebrations ahead of the Games and showcase the beauty of France’s natural and cultural heritage. 

About 1,000 people will take part in the Paralympic Torch Relay. The flame will be lit in Stoke Mandeville, Great Britain, the birthplace of the Paralympic Movement. 

At the end of August 2024, the flame will arrive in France for a relay in the country before reaching Paris to light the cauldron during the Opening Ceremony of the Paralympic Games on 28 August. 

“The torch relays are the story of the Games and of the people, and they are also a story of openness, handing over and sharing, which is particularly moving for us at Paris 2024," said Tony Estanguet, the president of the Paris 2024 Organising Committee.

"The torch relay and the forerunners who will carry the flame will therefore have a special role in our project. In 2024, with the relay, the greatest athletes will rub shoulders with sports fans, the men and women involved in the territories and those invested in community awareness projects.” 

The search for torchbearers

The Paralympic torch relay will feature about 1,000 runners who will showcase one of the three “energies” of Paris 2024. The Olympic torch relay will have about 10,000 runners who will be selected through the same criteria as the Paralympic relay.

The first energy is about sport and the Games. This includes the energy of the athletes, volunteers and people taking part in amateur sports from various sports associations. 

The second energy relates to communities, symbolised by those who are running businesses, innovating, creating and embodying French excellence across all sectors throughout France.

Finally, the third energy relates to the collective and will be showcased through the selection of the torchbearers who are taking action each day to build a more inclusive, more sustainable and fair society with a strong focus on solidarity.

The torchbearers will represent diversity in order to promote the importance an inclusive society: women and men, national and local public figures, people selected from the general public and persons with disabilities.

Super Ambassadors

Four athletes, including two Para athletes, from the host country will serve as “Super Ambassadors” to lead the torch relays. They are Olympic swimming gold medallists Laure Manaudou and Florent Manadou, and Para athletes Mona Francis and Dimitri Pavadé.

Francis, who competes in Para triathlon, said she is honoured to be participating as an ambassador and also hopes to send a message to future female athletes. 

“I feel very proud to have been chosen from among these inspiring athletes with impressive track records to carry the flame towards the opening of the Olympic Games Paris 2024. I am certain that this will be something I will never forget,” she said. 

“With respect to my role, and as a more personal message I would like to pass on, I hope I will be able to be an example for future female athletes, with or without disabilities. Access to elite Paralympic sport is not easy -  material obstacles are far too present today. This is a real issue and I would like to encourage these female athletes not to give up if they have their heart set on a sports project.

Pavadé, who won the silver medal in the men's long jump T64 event, said, "Today, being one of the Ambassadors of the torch relay for the Olympic Games Paris 2024 is just unbelievable to me. This beacon of peace, strength and unity – I will be the one to light the way for the great French team towards its covered star.” 

The Paris 2024 Paralympic Games will take place between 28 August and 8 September 2024, featuring about 4,400 Para athletes from around the world.

Visit the Paris 2024 website for more information about the torch relays