Paris 2024 Olympic Games: escort of the flame in Sète in 1992, Marc Ayral remembers “immense fervor”
Marc Ayral escorte la porteuse de la flamme, le 25 janvier 1992, dans Sète. – DR
Cadre à La Poste, Marc Ayral a eu le plaisir d’escorter le passage de la flamme à Sète, à l’occasion des JO de 1992. Il se souvient.
Marc Ayral was one of those to make the most of the second passage of the Olympic flame in Sète. It was in the winter of 1992, exactly January 25, on the occasion of the Albertville Olympic Games. That year, La Poste was the official partner of the Olympic flame journey in France. With us, it will go from Béziers to Montpellier crossing Sète. “Bingo” for the Sétois, young sales executive of the company.
A long relay of 4 kilometers
Sportsman, successively basketball player then triathlete of the ASPTT Sète at the time, Marc Ayral, then 35 years old, was chosen as “escort” in Sète. "The organization needed postmen on each section of the route to escort the real porters, who were largely young people aged 16 to 20, < /em>remembers Marc Ayral. These young people had previously sent their applications to the post offices."
If the name of the carrier next to him escapes him, the Sétois remembers very well having started the relay in front of the postal agency opposite the media library. The flame had previously crossed the pond from Mèze. Marc Ayral and his young partner will go to the Pont de la Peyrade, at the exit of Sète, after crossing the city center and Avenue Martelli. That’s more than 4 kilometers! "It’was a long stint. We were hot! It was an impossible temperature. And with this outfit…"
Very “90s” !
The porters and their companions had, at the time, a nylon suit, with gloves and a headband on the forehead… Everything except an antiperspirant outfit in direct sunlight! "We were equipped from head to toe. I kept the jogging pants for a long time, then they must have disappeared over time!" A "trendy" which naturally bore the logo of the Albertville Olympics and the La Poste label.
Beyond the clothing style, Marc Ayral remembers an "incredible" moment. The crowd the side of the roads, the cries of children, the athletes in its wake… "It’is a fervor, an enthusiasm, lots of people along the entire route, children& ;hellip; You really have to live it. When I see the images of the arrival of the flame in Marseille, I relive what I experienced myself. We cannot imagine how much fervor the Olympic flame can arouse. It’s crazy! While it’is purely symbolic…"
An engraved moment
"Proud" to have experienced this moment by sharing it with his colleagues at the time – like him athletes – Marc Ayral experienced a moment which remains engraved in his memory. The photo of his relay is carefully kept at his home. "I'm not a big collector, but it's still there, on the 1992 page, with all of my sports memorabilia." ; The vestige of a sacred moment of life…
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