Olympic Flame Arrives in Marseille Amid Tight Security

The Olympic torch has reached Marseille amid an “unprecedented level of security”, 79 days before the opening ceremony of the Paris Games.

A three-masted ship brought the torch to the Mediterranean coastal city in southern France from Greece’s ancient Olympia, where the flame was lit on April 11.

The torch will be brought to shore after a six-hour parade, featuring more than 1-thousand boats, in front of President Emmanuel Macron and an estimated crowd of 150-thousand people.

Officials said 6,000 law enforcement officers, canine units and elite forces snipers will be on patrol.

France raised its security threat level last October after a teacher was killed in a knife attack, while there are concerns that wars in Ukraine and Gaza could increase the threat.

The president of the Paris 2024 organising committee Tony Estanguet, said Marseille was the “obvious choice” to host the boat parade given it is France’s oldest city and was founded by Greeks.

Nationwide radio will have live and exclusive coverage of the Paris Olympics.