The Pyrénées-Atlantiques want to pass the Olympic flame through the department. Two and a half years from the Paris Olympics, the various activities are actively preparing. There is in particular the famous route of the Olympic flame, which the organizers of Paris 2024 also wanted it to pass through all the departments. A flame, which has a cost: 150,000 euros. This cools some departments that have already said no: at least eight according to the counts of France Bleu. But not the Pyrénées-Atlantiques, which applied.
A “beautiful event”
Requested in December by the French National Olympic and Sports Committee (CNOSF), the Departmental Council 64 responded favorably to the call. Under conditions. “The ticket is a bit expensive, explains Jean-Jacques Lasserre, the MoDem president of the Pyrénées Atlantiques, but it is a fine event to have the Olympic flame pass through a department. You have to find the right formula so that there are positive spin-offs.” It remains to find out what will be the route of the flame, between Béarn and the Basque Country. The security device that will accompany the various festivities around this day. Communities will also be able to choose five individual torchbearers and a collective relay made up of several people from a club or association. A reflection that will begin in the spring for a project tied up before the summer.
“We can’t reject such an opportunity either.details the president of CD 64. We are lucky to be in an exceptional department in terms of sports, whether for team sports or individual athletes. They deserve that we stop there a bit and be highlighted through a day like this. We would also like to launch operations with the colleges, and then of course try to involve the local authorities who will have the chance to see the torch pass through their territory to revive a little the flame that everyone may miss in these times. sometimes troubled.”
Le Béarn and Tony Estanguet
Politically too, the reception of the Olympic symbol is explained. It could have been misinterpreted, or offended some, that the Department refuses the passage of the Olympic flame while Tony Estanguet, the Béarnais triple Olympic canoe champion, ambassador of the territory, is now president of Paris 2024.
“That’s not why we’re stepping in. Just because we have a good relationship with him, with this huge champion and the man he’s become, doesn’t mean we’re going to pay what the committee we’ll ask. It’s not that at all. But what do you want, life is also made up of human relationships. It’s also made up, I hope, of a little optimism. We’re not going to justify ourselves. every five minutes compared to minds that see the negative in all events.”
For the Pyrénées-Atlantiques, this is equivalent to 22 euro cents per inhabitant. An amount payable over three years.