“We want these Games to radiate throughout France”, explains Tony Estanguet, the president of the organizing committee of the Paris Games 2024, this Wednesday during the joint press conference with Stéphane Haussoulier, the president of the Somme departmental council. We do not yet know its course but it is sure, the Olympic flame will make a passage with us before the launch of the Games in Paris.
“We want to show the best of France. We, French sportsmen, come from all over the country and it is important to value everything that French sport achieves on a daily basis”continues Tony Estanguet. “And the Somme is a very sporty department with clubs, infrastructures. There is a very strong desire to promote this department during the Paris 2024 Games”he said again.
We do not yet know the route that this Olympic flame will take in our department, but the key stages will be revealed. at the end of 2022 while the full route will be early 2023. “There are emblematic places in our department, sites that make sense to those who talk about the Somme, which will be offered”assures Stéphane Haussoulier, the president of the Somme departmental council.
A passage to 150,000 euros
But to bring the Olympic flame to a department, you have to pay 150,000 euros excluding tax. A price that many communities have refused to pay. A price that is worth it for Stéphane Haussoulier. “We had to go through this financing obligation for a planetary event that had not occurred in France for 100 years. (note: for the Summer Games, Paris had hosted the Games in 1924. Grenoble (1968) and Albertville (1992) had hosted the Winter Games)“he justifies.
“This is an opportunity to thank the sports and cultural associative fabric, the volunteers who will be associated with this beautiful day” — Stéphane Haussoulier, president of the Somme departmental council
“For our fellow citizens, it may still seem like a lot. But compared to our budget of 733 million euros, I think that all these things can be imagined in a financial context where we can do it”, ends Stéphane Haussoulier. To this must also be added the price of all the animations which will be organized on the sidelines of the passage of the flame.