Celebrations are about to get underway on French soil ahead of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.
After 11 days traversing Greece, and another 11 spent crossing the Mediterranean on board the three-masted sailing vessel Belem powered by the trade winds, the Olympic flame is nearing French soil.
Under sunny skies and calm seas the Belem, the ship carrying the torch, was sighted off the coast of Marseille early on Wednesday. It's due to make landfall this evening in Marseille's Old Port before embarking on an epic 12,000 kilometre Olympic Torch Relay across France before reaching Paris.
It's been 100 years since the French capital last hosted the Olympics, and the flame will visit over 400 French towns and cities as it criss-crosses the country before heading down the Seine and lighting the Olympic Cauldron to officially open the Games of the XXXIII Olympiad on 26 July.
Three weeks ago in Olympia, Greece, we saw World and Olympic champion swimmer Laure Manaudou as the first French torchbearer. Keeping with the aquatic theme, Laure's younger brother Florent Manaudou – also an World and Olympic champion swimmer who is also the French Olympic men's swimming team captain for in Paris 2024 – will be the first to carry the flame onto French soil.
"It's something we've been waiting for for a very long time," chief Paris 2024 organiser Tony Estanguet said earlier this week. "The Games are coming home."
Follow the Flame | Olympic Torch Relay