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Paris 2024: French cities turn down Olympic torch relay

Due to cost, cities across France have turned down the opportunity to be in the world spotlight. What are the costs and is it worth it?

The eyes of the world will be on France in July 2024. Because that’s when the Summer Olympics are scheduled to open with a spectacular opening ceremony on the Seine.

Before that, the Olympic torch will embark on a two-month journey across the country, having circled the globe on its way from Mount Olympus in Greece to the French capital.

But this Olympic tradition is causing headaches for organizers, as French cities and towns are politely refusing passage of the Olympic torch relay, citing the high cost.

Departments have been asked to pay 150,000 euros – with taxes, it would end up being as much as 180,000 euros. These costs would have to be financed by the public sector from its budget for sports promotion.

At least ten of the 96 departments in mainland France have already said they will not welcome the torch.

The dispute is getting louder

Citizens of the Rhône department in southeastern France, where the country’s third-largest city, Lyon, is located, will not be able to catch a glimpse of the torch.

For some, that’s cause for disappointment.

A statement from the Rhône branch of Emmanuel Macron’s youth organization, Les Jeunes avec Macron, criticizes the department for a decision it says was made for environmental reasons.

The organization speaks of a “narrow-mindedness of environmentalists who confuse the fight against global warming with an environmental puritanism that prohibits any form of festive spirit.”

However, these are not the reasons given by the city itself.

“It doesn’t make sense to ask 180,000 euros from each department. Some departments are smaller and others are less wealthy than others. It would have been more logical if the regions had organized the financing of the torches at their level to ensure territorial equality,” explained Bruno Bernard, president of the Lyon Metropole association of municipalities.

“We would have liked to have the flame here, of course, but the economic conditions demanded by the Olympic Committee – 180,000 euros for something that lasts only one day – seem inappropriate for a public commitment,” he added.

Local sports instead of torch relay

Christophe Guilloteau, president of the Rhône region, already spoke out against a passage of the flame last year.

He told Forecasting, “To these costs must be added the cost of the activities that will complement the Torch Relay. The Rhône department would rather invest in local events and support the sports industry in our area.”

The departments of Vosges, Meurthe-et-Moselle, Indre-et-Loire, Lot-et-Garonne, Creuse, Haute-Loire and Haute-Vienne, Loire-Atlantique, Côtes-d’Armor and Orne have said they will not participate.

“This amount exceeds my subsidies for financing sports events throughout the year,” Ludovic Gouyette, vice president of the Côtes-d’Armor department, told France Bleu Armorique. The department is located in northern Brittany.

Why this cost?

The organizing committee for the 2024 Paris Olympics, Cojo, explained that a “large majority of departments have already welcomed the flame,” adding that the pre-tax cost of 150,000 euros is to ensure that the torch “crosses as many territories as possible” on its way to Paris.

Cojo stressed that the torch relay would be financed “largely by the committee and its partners” and that it would definitely take place.

In January 2023, the French government announced that the share of public funding for the Games would increase to 2.4 billion euros. On Twitter, the planned path of the flame was described:

According to one study, the 2024 Olympics in Paris could generate economic benefits of 10.7 billion euros and 250,000 jobs.

However, the cost of hosting the Olympics has skyrocketed in recent years. With fewer and fewer countries bidding to host the major multi-sport event, the International Olympic Committee has called for a reform of the host city selection process.

A look at past games in France

France has hosted the Olympics five times – twice so far in Paris.

Next year’s opening in Paris will be a historic moment, as the ceremony will mark 100 years since the 1924 Olympics began in Chamonix in the Haute-Savoir department.

The cities of Grenoble and Albertville also hosted the Winter Games in 1992 and 1968, respectively, but they will not match past glories. Located in the Savoie and Isère departments, the cities have once again decided not to welcome the flame.

“Hosting the Tour de France has already allowed us to gain more visibility” at a “much lower cost,” said Frédéric Burnier Framboret, mayor of Albertville, in an interview with L’Equipe.

However, Games organizers stress that the torch relay “offers a unique opportunity to put the spotlight on the regions of France, their heritage and their skills…. Villages and iconic places will benefit from the focus of the Games to show themselves to the world,” the committee said.

By Klaus