Crowds started gathering¹ early Wednesday morning around Marseille's Old Port as a 19th century sailing ship carrying the Olympic flame appeared on the horizon. More than 1,000 boats accompanied the Belem, a three-mast schooner², as it approached the harbor of France's second-largest city in a slow maritime³ parade on calm seas under a clear blue sky.



The flame was brought ashore⁴ Wednesday evening by four-time French Olympic medalist, swimmer Florent Manaudou. He passed the torch to Paralympian Nantenin Keita, who then gave it to French rap star Jul, who is from Marseille. He took it and lit the Olympic cauldron at the Old Port in front of an expected crowd of 150,000 people.



City officials said a billion more people were expected to watch the event live on television around the world — a first spectacle for fans less than three months before the 2024 Paris Summer Olympics kick off on July 26.