PARIS — Despite all the years of preparation for the Paris Olympics and the daunting spectacle of the Opening Ceremony along the River Seine, there’s one closely guarded secret at the center of it all: Who will light the cauldron that will kick off the 2024 Summer Olympics?
The highest ceremonial honour a host country can bestow is that the torch-lighter is traditionally a top Olympic figure – think Muhammad Ali in Atlanta in 1996 or Naomi Osaka in Japan in 2021. We already know that Snoop Dogg will carry the torch for part of its final journey, but Snoop (not exactly a well-known French athlete) is unlikely to do the final honours. Here are 10 possible nominees for the post on Friday night:
Renaud Lavillenie: Pole vaulter, she won gold at London 2012 and silver at Rio 2016. She won a total of 20 medals in a variety of international competitions throughout the 2010s.
Laure Manaudou: She won France’s first gold medal in women’s swimming when she won the 400m freestyle event at the 2004 Athens Games. She also won silver and bronze at those Olympics, making her only the second French woman to win three medals at a single Games. She also competed at the 2008 and 2012 Games.
Kylian Mbappé: One of the best footballers on the planet, Mbappé is the captain of the French national team and, until recently, played for Paris-St. Germain. He now plays for Real Madrid, which has prevented him from participating in the 2024 Olympic Games.
Tony Parker: A French high school legend who was inspired by Michael Jordan. He won four NBA championships playing alongside Tim Duncan on the San Antonio Spurs. He played for several medal-winning national teams throughout his NBA career.
Maria Jose Perec: One of France’s most celebrated Olympians, Pérec won three gold medals in athletics at the 1992 and 1996 Games. In 2013, she was made an Officer of the Legion of Honour, France’s highest honour.
Michel Platini: A three-time Ballon d’Or winner, Le Roi (“The King”) is one of the most famous French footballers of all time. He was seventh in FIFA’s “Player of the Century” rankings and helped organize the 1998 World Cup tournament in France.
Thomas Pesquet: An incredibly popular French astronaut played the French national anthem on saxophone during the 2020 Summer Olympics final… while orbiting Earth on the International Space Station.
Teddy Riner: Standing 1.93 metres tall and weighing 130 kilos, Riner, nicknamed “Teddy Bear”, is one of the most imposing athletes in French history. He has won Olympic gold medals in judo three times and triumphed at the 2012, 2016 and 2020 Games.
Omar Sy: One of France’s best-known actors and the star of the popular 2011 French film “The Intouchables.” American audiences know him from the Netflix show “Lupin” or his appearances on the Jurassic Park and X Men franchises.
Zinedine Zidane: One of the greatest footballers of all time, he won the Ballon d’Or in 1998, led France to the 1998 World Cup and was named Player of the Tournament at the 2006 World Cup. Like Pérec, Lavillenie and Riner, Zidane has been awarded the Legion d’Honneur. He is one of only a handful of players to have won the World Cup, the Champions League and the Ballon d’Or.