Paris 2024 Olympic Games: more than 6,000 police officers and gendarmes expected in Marseille for the arrival of the Olympic flame

La flamme arrive à Marseille le 8 mai. MAXPPP – Patrick Lefevre

Nearly 6,000 police officers and gendarmes will be deployed on May 8 in Marseille for the arrival of the Olympic flame in the Old Port, announced Friday the Minister of the Interior, Gérald Darmanin, on X.

The symbolic torch, lit on April 16 in Olympia, Greece, was to be handed over to France this Friday in Athens. Placed in a lantern, it "will embark" Saturday in Piraeus on the Belem, a French three-masted ship dating from 1896, for a 12-day journey to Marseille.

150 000 people expected

Some 150,000 people are expected on May 8 for the arrival of the ship, which will be accompanied by a thousand boats. "Nearly 6 000 police officers and gendarmes, elite units, a complete anti-drone response system, underwater and nautical resources… Tout is ready for the arrival of the Olympic flame in Marseille on May 8", wrote Gérald Darmanin on