Greek actress Mary Mina, playing the role of High Priestess, holds the Olympic flame by the cauldron during the handover ceremony on Friday. [REUTERS/Louiza Vradi]
ATHENS -- The Paris Olympic flame was handed to the French organizers on Friday as a traditional ceremony was held at the well-known Panathenaic Stadium which hosted the opening and closing ceremony of the first modern Olympic Games in 1896.
The Olympic flame arrived in Athens after an 11-day relay in Greece and ended with Paris 2024 organizing committee president Tony Estanguet receiving the torch from Greek Olympic Committee president Spyros Capralos.
The flame will then board the Belem, the Caisse d'Epargne Foundation's famous three-masted ship, at the port of Piraeus, bound for Marseille on Saturday, before finally arriving at the French port on May 8 and kicking off the relay in France.
