Montpellier, Sète and Millau will share the Olympic flame for a day

For one day, on May 13, 2024, the Olympic flame will be in Millau in the morning, in Sète in the middle of the day and in Montpellier in the evening. CHARLY TRIBALLEAU / AFP

The Organizing Committee for the Games (Cojop), which is due to unveil the route of the Olympic torch relay on Friday June 23, likes to repeat that the latter “will illuminate all territories”. All ? Yes, if we think at regional level. No, as far as the departments are concerned, because a certain number of them refused to join the operation because of the sum (180,000 euros) to be paid to Paris 2024. In Occitania, this is the case of Hérault and Aveyron.

However, the Olympic symbol will p well in these two departments for one day, May 13, 2024, i.e. five days. after arriving in France, in the port of Marseille. Because if the departments have said no, three agglomerations have taken over: Montpellier, the city of urban sports, has joined forces with Sète, the maritime area, and Millau, the city of nature sports. The latter being more than 100 kilometers away from the other two, it is a real challenge to organize this relay over a single day, and to ensure that everyone leaves satisfied with the operation.

Initially, the three cities were part of some 600 communities that volunteered to be Games preparation centers, in other words to welcome delegations, French or foreign, for the duration of a preparation course or as a rear base during the Games.

The largest of the three, the metropolis of Montpellier (thirty-one municipalities), offered the other two an ociation for the flame: it would bear more than half of the bill (100,000 euros), if the agglomeration of Sète (fourteen municipalities) signed a check for 60,000 euros and if the smallest of the three, the community of municipalities of Millau (fifteen municipalities and 22,000 inhabitants), contributed the remaining 20,000 euros.

In all three cases, the expenditure is smoothed over two years and has been voted on by the local authority concerned. As a result of this agreement, the three cities will have the flame at different times of the day: Millau in the morning, Sète in the middle of the day, Montpellier reserving the spotlight by hosting the Olympic symbol in the evening.

Welcoming foreign delegations

The three cities are therefore moving forward together on both the preparation centers and the reception of the flame. They were accompanied by a specialized firm and published a common brochure highlighting their respective sporting ets, places and equipment, as well as a video. They approached the foreign delegations together.

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