(Saint-Denis) “Snooooooooop!”: with a five-star cast, including American stars Snoop Dogg and Pharrell Williams, the Olympic flame ends its two-month relay across France in the suburbs of Paris on Friday, before reaching the French capital for the opening ceremony of the 2024 Olympic Games in the evening.
At the foot of the Stade de France in Saint-Denis, north of Paris, locals, rap fans, foreign tourists and simply curious onlookers crowd along the barriers in a feverish and joyful atmosphere to catch a glimpse of Snoop Dogg, the famous Californian rapper with long hair. dreadlocks and drawling.
PHOTO AURELIEN MORISSARD, ASSOCIATED PRESS
Snoop Dogg
The excitement builds as the flame gets closer. “Imagine, he’s acting crazy, he takes the flame, he lights his joint with it!” jokes a spectator in the audience, Toufik, as the image of the musician is inseparable from the eternal firecracker he wears at the corner of his lips.
The day will be long and Olympic for Nadège and Céline, two residents of Saint-Denis. After attending the start of the torch relay in the Pleyel district in the morning, they then hurried to the Stade de France to see rappers MC Solaar and Snoop Dogg.
They then aim to follow the end of the relay in the afternoon at the Saint-Denis Basilica, where it will be carried by the singer and stylist Pharrell Williams, before running to Paris to attend the opening ceremony of the high quays, thanks to tickets distributed by their city.
“It only happens once in a lifetime and above all it’s in our city, which is even rarer. We’re not sure we’ll experience it again one day. And above all there are some great people, they did great,” enthuses Nadège, 41, under her umbrella, who does not wish to give her surname.
“What a boss!”
Cali, a 30-year-old tattoo artist, jumped on the first train to Lyon when it was announced that rapper Snoop Dogg, 52, would be taking part in the torch relay. “I really like American rap, Tupac, Biggie… It was part of my childhood […] We thought it would be more accessible, that it would be a chance to see it personally,” she told AFP.
Around noon, the actor who will be commentating on Olympic events for NBC finally appears on the footbridge over the Canal Saint-Denis, flame in hand. The delirious crowd gives him a rock star welcome.
“What a boss!”, “Hey, he’s so tall!”, exclaim onlookers while “Snoop Doggy Dogg” – one of his nicknames – allows himself the luxury of a few dance steps before passing the flame to a torchbearer, aboard a barge going up the Saint-Denis canal towards Paris.
“Even though we were bothered by the work, it was a joy to have a beautiful ceremony,” says Kelly, 36, a resident of the Pleyel district who suffered the disruption of the work on the Olympic village.
Earlier in the morning, in the athletes’ village, athletes from all over the world and their staff, phones in hand and broad smiles, immortalized this moment at length.
“A moment that gives you goosebumps, it’s beautiful to see,” commented Judith Vandermeiren, Belgian field hockey player.
The flame was greeted with cheers and loud applause. Former UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon received a standing ovation, as did International Olympic Committee President Thomas Bach, who called for people to “enjoy” the Games (July 26-August 11 and August 28-September 8).
PHOTO STEPHANE DE SAKUTIN, POOL VIA REUTERS
Ban Ki-moon and WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus
Grenadian athlete Lindon Victor’s enthusiasm is intact as he heads into his third Olympics. “It’s great what’s happening, I can’t wait,” said the combined events specialist, who squeezed in among the officials to get a selfie with champion Pau Gasol.