OLYMPIC GAMES PARIS 2024
Marseille welcomes the Olympic Flame
Mythical
Conveyed by the Belem from Greece, the Olympic Flame arrived in Marseille on Wednesday 8 May 2024.
To welcome the mythical three-masted ship for 48 hours of festive celebrations, the Old Port has put on its Olympic attire: a pontoon specially installed for the occasion has been transformed into a hundred-metre-long athletics track.
Expectations
Commissioned to decorate the pontoon by Aimko Paris, under the management of LNT SUD, the agency AUCOP commissioned us to contribute to this exciting project, which demanded commitment and precision befitting the occasion.
After a 12-day crossing and 1200 nautical miles travelled between Athens and Marseille, the Belem made a magnificent entrance alongside more than a thousand boats into the Phocaean city, accompanied by genuine popular fervour, in the presence of the President of the Republic on shore and the Patrouille de France in the air.
Entrusted to Florent Manaudou, the first torchbearer on French soil, the flame was lit just before the Belem docked. The swimmer then handed it over to Nantenin Keita, a Paralympic athletics champion, and it was the singer Jul who lit the Olympic Cauldron.
To welcome them onto the Olympic pontoon specially set up for the occasion, we printed the official Paris 2024 logo, 7 x 7 m, with a transfer onto adhesive to allow it to be applied to the athletic carpet.
To clad the sides of the pontoon, our teams produced 350 metres (60 cm in height) of virgin tarpaulins with stitched hems, weighted with lead chain so that they dip into the sea.
We also clad two reception desks with printed 10 mm PVC, applied using double-sided adhesive, the first in the colours of the Olympics and the second in those of a sponsor.
Our teams also made 200 m2 of black-backed fabric to cover the stage on which Alonzo and Soprano gave a free concert just in front of the Belem to close the day.
An unforgettable day of history!