Olympic journey: An Occitanie all Games, all flame!

As we approach the Olympic Games And Paralympics of Paris 2024, the Occitanie region presented its action plan to bring this global event to life and spread across the entire territory. Organization of major sporting events, Olympic torch relay, support of regional athletes towards sporting excellence and welcoming of numerous French and foreign delegations for training courses… Perrine Laffont and Kévin Mayer, future bearers of the Olympic flame, were present to demonstrate the strengths of Occitanie in preparing athletes for international events.

THE Olympic Games And Paralympics of Paris 2024 “are a unique opportunity for bringing the spirit of sport and Olympism to life throughout the territory, pass it on to young people and allow them to fully experience these Games. I am thinking in particular of the values ​​of peace and fraternity, particularly in the international context that we know” underlines Carole Delga who specifies: “Although the events are not taking place in Occitanie, we remain a pilot region in terms of training and preparation for the athletes.”

This desire was affirmed in 2018with the launch ofOccitanie Ambition 2024, aiming to unite and support the Occitanie sports movement, with a view to major international sporting events, with the culmination of Games
Olympics and Paralympics of 2024. The objective was toinvolve all sports stakeholders in the region and of “confirm the positioning of Occitanie at the top of the regions in the training of high-level French athletes (…) the reception of international delegations and athletes

the organization of competitions of national and international scope…” The Region directly supports more than 800 athletes each year by mobilizingan annual budget of €500,000 . Alongside sports players, the Region “supports these athletes who are committed to making Occitanie shine, by helping them to carry out their dual projects, both sporting and academic or professional.”

Image by dan onaca from Pixabay

Perrine Laffont will carry the flame to Font-RomeuDuring his visit to the Pyrénées-Orientales the Olympic flame route will make an emblematic passage on the site of the CREPS-CNEA

of Font-Romeu (culminating at 1850 meters above sea level and specializing in hypoxia).Symbol of excellence in Occitanie sports equipment a unique structure in France and known worldwide, THE National Altitude Training Center (CNEA) of Font-Romeu will host the passing of the Olympic flame on May 15

next. An obvious fact for this exceptional sporting setting: in 57 years of existence, 270 Olympic medalists have attended the CNEA in final preparation for the Games, including 104 Olympic champions.The flame will tour the site from 10:30 a.m., with a final pentathlon demonstration stage in the stadium , in the presence of athletes in preparation, young people in training, sports associations and local residents. On a proposal from the Region, the Games Organizing Committee chose the five-time World champion and Olympic mogul ski champion, Perrine Laffont(from Monts d’Olmes) to carry the flame

on this emblematic site, among 29 torchbearers.

Philippe MOURET

• The passing of the torch relay in Occitania:
• May 13: Hérault and Aveyron (Montpellier, Sète, Millau)
• May 15: Pyrénées-Orientales, (Pic du Canigou, Font-Romeu, Collioure, Perpignan…)
• May 16: Aude (Carcassonne, Narbonne, Gruissan, Cathar castles, etc.)
• May 17: Haute-Garonne (Toulouse, Revel, Luchon, Muret)
• May 18: Gers (Auch, Condom, Marciac, Fleurance…)

May 19: Hautes-Pyrénées (Tarbes, Cirque de Gavarnie, Pic du Midi, Lourdes, etc.) More than 1,500 athletes representing 47 countries, from 5 continents, chose Occitanie to prepare for the Olympic event in the certified regional structures
Games Preparation Center

(CPJ). For 2024, France tops the list of countries having sent the most delegations to train in Occitania with 45 courses, followed by Spain (9 courses) and South Africa (8 courses), also on the podium. Brazil, Japan and Australia follow (7 courses), then Ukraine and Slovenia (6 courses) while Poland and New Zealand complete the top 10 (5 courses each).Discover the

“sports portal ” of the region This Olympic year will also mark the launch by the Region of its new

“sports portal” online, a gateway for all players, clubs and practitioners in Occitanie to all the mechanisms and action levers put in place by the Region.

Put online in January, this portal should allow the 17,000 clubs in Occitanie to to access all the aid systems in the Region in just a few clicks. Thanks to the online directory, they can also list their events. For practitioners, the portal offers a calendar of sporting events, a directory to find a club or even information and news concerning the action of the Occitanie Region in favor of the development of sporting activity.

Sports portal:

https://www.laregion.fr/Portail-Sport The Cauldron in which the Flame will shine at each stopover city The Olympic Flame arrives in Marseille this May 8 and Paris 2024 revealed the design of the Olympic Torch Relay Cauldronand some Paralympic Flameimagined by Mathieu Lehanneur. Made by

ArcelorMittal a Cauldron will be lit at the celebration site of each stopover city by the last bearer of the Flame of the day. The Olympic Torch Relay is an epic which is written to the rhythm of three highly symbolic objects of the Games. Burned at Olympia, the Torch of Paris2024 traveled through Greece in a journey in homage to the ancient origins of the Games . She will reappear in Marseille, this May 8, to launch four months of celebrationsGames

In France. Once the Flame on French soil

,

“the 10,000 bearers of the Olympic Flame will take turns to light up the territories and bring the energy of the Games as close as possible to the French. At each stopover city, the last bearer of the Flame of the day will ignite the Cauldron on the site of the celebrations, the true climax of the festival.” It will not be until the last day of the Torch Relay, July 26, 2024, that the Vasque will replace the Cauldron to open the Paris 2024 Olympic Games. Torche, Cauldron and Vasque will also host the Relay of the Paralympic Flame which will leave from Stoke-Mandeville in England, the historic cradle of Paralympic sport. Arrival in France in Calais on August 25, thereParalympic Flame

will multiply into twelve Flames spread across the outskirts of France

. These Flames will light a Cauldron in each stopover city, before coming together to ignite the Vasque in Paris, on August 28, 2024.Torch and Cauldron, a common story Both designed by French designer Mathieu Lehanneur

, the Cauldron draws on the inspirations and signatures of the Torch: the purity of the form, the color and the relief of water. A base, three legs and an almost floating ring…“the refined shape of the Cauldron responds to the softness of the curves of the Torch, symbol of the Appeasement carried by the Flame and the Games.”

The Cauldron also has the same luminous shade as the Torchcombination of gold, silver and bronze, with shiny finishes on their lower parts and matte on their upper parts. From crossing the Mediterranean Sea to the Seine scene of the opening ceremony of Olympic Gamesand competition site, through the Ocean Relay the central place of Water in the Flame Relay and the

Paris 2024 Games is symbolized both on the Torch and on the base of the Cauldron with ripple and wave effects. “The Torch, the Cauldron and the Basin are not separate objects.They are chapters of one big story. Everyone embodies the spirit of these Paris Games. The Cauldron takes the form of a ring of fire suspended above a liquid relief . Both pure and magical, it seems to float and is reflected in its metallic base. If the Torch is a sacred fire that is transmitted, the Cauldron around which we gather and which unites energies” comments Mathieu Lehanneur, designer of Cauldron of Relays of the Olympic flameand some

Paris 2024 Paralympic Flame

.The Cauldron, a symbol of fraternity

“Through its symmetrical shape, the Torch was designed as an expression of Equality

. The Cauldron, with its perfectly circular ring, embodies Fraternity. Installed on the celebration site of each stage city of the Olympic Torch Relays and the Paralympic Flame Relays, the Paris 2024 Cauldron invites people to gather, share and celebrate.”At the end of each day, the image of the burning of the Cauldron by the last bearer of the Flame will leave an impression: transmitted by the Torch, the sacred fire will spread simultaneously on each side of the ring. “Every day during the Torch Relay , the lighting of the Cauldron by the last bearer of the Flame of the day will be a highlight. In each stopover city, the Cauldron will be a real meeting point to end these days of celebration and communion in style. We invite everyone to come together, to share all the emotions that we will experience with the Torch Relay

and celebrate, together, the arrival of the Games in France. We look forward !”says Tony Estanguet, president of Paris 2024.

The know-how of ArcelorMittalLike the Torch, the manufacture of the Flame Relay Cauldron was entrusted to ArcelorMittal ,official partner of Paris 2024 Games. Its unique design requires particular know-how: the base is shaped by water, or

“hydroformed”

, so that it leaves its mark. The ring of the Cauldron must be pierced with 260 holes to create the spectacular conflagration in a circle.

About the Games

See you in 2024: In the footsteps of the Olympic Flame in Occitanie