Staff Reporter.
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The Olympic torch has reached Marseille amid an “unprecedented level of security”, 79 days before the opening ceremony of the Paris Games.
A three-masted ship brought the torch to the Mediterranean coastal city in southern France from Greece’s ancient Olympia, where the flame was lit on 11 April.
The torch will be brought to shore after a six-hour parade, featuring more than 1,000 boats, in front of President Emmanuel Macron and an estimated crowd of 150,000 people.
Officials said 6,000 law enforcement officers, canine units and elite forces snipers will be on patrol.
“Life goes on in Marseille but in great security conditions,” said interior minister Gerald Darmanin. “It’s an unprecedented level of security.”
France raised its security threat level last October after a teacher was killed in a knife attack, while there are concerns that wars in Ukraine and Gaza could increase the threat.
The president of the Paris 2024 organising committee Tony Estanguet, said Marseille was the “obvious choice” to host the boat parade given it is France’s oldest city and was founded by Greeks.
“It’s something we’ve been waiting for for a very long time. The Games are coming home,” added Estanguet, referring to French aristocrat Pierre de Coubertin, who revived the idea of the Games as practised by the Greeks until the 4th Century.
“It’s a huge honour and I think it’s an exceptional promotion for the city,” said retiree and boat owner Henri Gerente.
“It will be watched by hundreds of millions of people, so I am very proud and I hope that everyone will participate in this momentum.
“It can only be a good thing for the economy and for everything else, for the image of the city. So I’m proud of it.”
On Thursday, the torch will begin its journey to Paris with former Marseille footballers Jean-Pierre Papin, Didier Drogba and Basile Boli among the torch bearers.
More than 10,000 people will take part in the 7,500-mile torch relay, which will also visit French overseas territories, before the flame reaches the captical city and is installed near the Louvre, in the Jardin des Tuileries.
The opening ceremony of the Olympics is due to see more than 10,000 athletes sail along a 6km stretch of the River Seine through the centre of Paris on 160 barges.
However last month President Macron said the opening ceremony could move if the security risk is too high.