Olympic torch

French 19th-century three-masted barque Belem sails through the Corinth Canal, a day after setting sails from the Piraeus port, near Athens, with the Olympic flame on board during its journey to France, after Greece handed over the torch of the 2024 Games to Paris organizers. The Belem is set to reach Marseille on May 8 and 10,000 torchbearers will then carry the flame across 64 French territories. It will travel through more than 450 towns and cities, and dozens of tourist attractions during its 12,000-kilometre (7,500-mile) journey through mainland France and overseas French territories in the Caribbean, Indian Ocean and Pacific. On July 26 it will form the centrepiece of the Paris Olympics opening ceremony.