The Olympic torch will finally enter France when it reaches the southern seaport of Marseille on Wednesday. And it’s already been quite a journey. After being lit by the sun’s rays on April 16 in Ancient Olympia, the torch was carried around Greece before leaving Athens aboard a three-mast ship named Belem, headed for Marseille. The Belem was first used in 1896, the same year the modern Olympics came back. It will be accompanied by more than 1,000 boats as it parades around the Bay of Marseille, before arriving at the Vieux-Port, or Old Port, and docking on a pontoon resembling an athletics tracks. Torch bearers will carry the flame across Marseille the next day, the last stretch running on the roof of the famed Stade Vélodrome, home to Marseille’s passionate soccer fans. After leaving Marseille, a vast relay route will be undertaken before the torch odyssey ends on July 27 in Paris. |
Taylor Swift's upcoming album The Tortured Poets Department will be promoted with a multiThere IS a link between women's periods and the moon after all, study findsArkansas lawmakers question governor's staff about purchase of $19,000 lecternJennifer PanTrump to meet with Polish president Duda as NATO leaders call for additional support for UkraineChina axes hundreds of TV dramas depicting family tensions — Radio Free AsiaPulisic and McKennie face each other as rivals in Italy before joining forces again for USChina joins int'l IP cooperation initiative to enhance patent prosecution processesJiri Smejkal gets 1st goal, Senators beat Bruins 3Wild moment elephant marauds through small town in Montana after breaking loose from circus