Soldiers, guardians of the flame

Military personnel from the three armed services and the National Gendarmerie will be working alongside the domestic and civil security forces to guarantee the safety and integrity of the flame and torchbearers. The military personnel appointed for this mission all practise sports at a high level.

Two members of the French Navy will travel to Greece and board the Belem to help secure the Olympic flame as it crosses the Mediterranean:

• Chief Petty Officer François, a military physical training and sports instructor on the Chevalier Paul frigate, has finished on the podium several times in the French Navy cross-country championships and took part in the French joint cross-country championships.

• Chief Petty Officer Erwan, a military physical training and sports instructor with the naval action force, is coach of the French military badminton team and technical advisor for this discipline within the French Navy.

The French Navy will accompany the Olympic flame until its arrival in Marseilles on May 8^th 2024.

Six military personnel, guardians of the flame in mainland France:

• Second Lieutenant Gabriel, a specialist in military physical training and sports at the National Defence Sport Center (CNSD) in Fontainebleau, came 5th in the 2019 U24 underwater hockey world championship in Sheffield (England);

• Sergeant Maeva of the 1^st Infantry Regiment in Sarrebourg practices a wide range of sports: athletics, gymnastics, weightlifting, climbing, combat sports and football at Regional 1 level;

• Lance Corporal Nicolas from the 92^nd Infantry Regiment in Clermont-Ferrand came 2^nd in the Seigneurs ultra trail (107km), the Aquaterra ultra trail (110km) and 3^rd in the National Army trial championship in 2020;

• Captain Franck, from the 3^rd Marine Infantry Regiment in Vannes, is a member of the international "Plush Global triathlon" team and took part in the IRONMAN 70.3 world championship in the United States, a triathlon competition derived from the IRONMAN, covering a distance of 113 km, i.e. half the distance of an IRONMAN;

• Captain Bérénice from Solenzara air base 126, who is also a keen triathlete, took part in the Ardèche canyon triathlon, the Ventoux trail, the Marrakech IRONMAN and the Restonica trail in Corsica;

• Chief Petty Officer Nicolas from the Naval Academy in Brest, a martial arts specialist, is 5^th dan in Kempo and 1^st dan in Kobudo. He has won a number of podium places in regular Karate sportif and Karate Mix, a martial synthesis of all the disciplines represented within the French Karate Federation, which combines the components of standing percussion, projection, immobilisation and submission. He is in charge of the management school for the Finistere karate committee and a member of the departmental grading panel.

Two military personnel, guardians of the flame as it passes through Corsica:

• Warrant Officer Christophe from Solenzara air base 126 is the triathlon technical advisor for the Air and Space Force team, which won a gold and two silver medals at the French military championships and a bronze medal at the World Military Games.

• Sapper 1^st Class Nawelle from the civil security military training units is a keen runner and trailist and has completed 35km including 2,400km of ascent for the 2023 National Wounded Day.

Two servicemen, guardians of the flame as it passes through French Polynesia:

• Corporal Teihoarii of the Armed Forces in French Polynesia took part in the 21km X-TERRA trail and won the Admiral's Trophy, a V6 va'a race;
• Sergeant Hinetea from the Marine Infantry Regiment of the Pacific in French Polynesia took part in several Army cross-country championships.

An airman, guardian of the flame as it passes through the Réunion island:

• Master-corporal Stéphane from air force base 180 on the Réunion island won the Transvolcano Reunionese trail and came 3^rd in the Galets river Reunionese trail, 5^th of the Swiss Canyon and Mascareigne trail, Grand Raid de la Réunion and 9^th in the International Military Trail Championship in Portugal.

An airman will help to secure the flame as it passes through French Guiana:

• Chief Warrant Officer David, from air base 367 in French Guiana, has taken part in more than twenty marathons, including the Kourou space marathon and three 100km road races, the Beaufortin ultra tour (103km with 6,400m of ascent) and five triathlons, the distance of which is that of an IRONMAN.

Two soldiers, guardians of the flame as it passes through the French West Indies:

• Sergeant Elsa from the 33^rd Marine Infantry Regiment in Martinique, who does a lot of running, trails, cycling and mountain biking.

• Chief Warrant Officer Guillaume from the Voluntary Military Service Regiment in Guadeloupe, who does a lot of running, trails, boxer and mountain biking.

A soldier, guardian of the flame as it passes in New Caledonia :

• Master Corporal Evelyna from air base 186 in Paito, who runs half-marathons and trials.

While the Olympic Flame will be extinguished at the Closing Ceremony of the Olympic Games on 11^th August 2024, the Paralympic Flame will be lit a little later in Stoke Mandeville, the historic birthplace of Paralympic sports. Sergeant Maeva, Master Corporal Nicolas, Captain Bérénice and Chief Petty Officer Nicolas will continue their mission as guardians of the Paralympic Torch Relay. They will be joined by five other soldiers:

• Warrant Officer Brice from the Army's Wounded Warrior Support Cell in Paris, who organised the 24-hour triathlon for the Army's wounded as part of the Wounded Day in 2022. He also took part in the Ad Victoriam challenge and was selected to take part in the 2023 Invictus Games;

• Major Julien from the Paris Fire Brigade, who set the 3^rd fastest time among French participants in the New York marathon in 2017 and was several times team military champion in duathlon;

• - Morgane, chief weapons engineer at the French Procurement Agency (DGA) in Paris, is a triathlon and UTMB consultant for the sports television channel l’EquipeTV, European cross duathlon champion in 2021, six times French cross-triathlon champion and French military triathlon champion in 2018.

• Staff Sergeant Timothée of the Defence Joint Infrastructure Networks and Information Systems Directorate is a keen sportsman and instructor of close operational intervention techniques.

• Anaesthetist nurse Olivia from the Percy Armed Forces Training Hospital is a multiple world, European and French kite buggy champion.

Military torchbearers

Several staff from the Ministry of the Armed Forces are among the scouts chosen by Paris 2024 to carry the flame and represent all those who have invested in the success of this relay and the 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games. Meet some of them:

• Warrant Officer Basan of the French Foreign Legion is the 2023 French and European Brazilian Jiu-jitsu champion;

• Mr Timothy, a civilian from the French Ministry of Defence and a former member of the 1^st Parachute Hussars Regiment in Tarbes, rebuilt his life through sport after having been seriously injured in Mali. In 2023, he won the French handicapped cycling championship and the French para-cycling championship in road race and time trial;

• Sergent Ketty from the 1^st Parachute Hussars Regiment in Tarbes came 3^rd in the French Equestrian Championship. An instructor at the regiment's equestrian sports club, she helps to promote the physical and psychological reconstruction of wounded soldiers through equine-assisted therapy.

• Julien, a training and military sports preparation instructor in the French Air Force, supervises the physical and mental preparation of pilots, mechanics and aircrew from two transport squadrons every week.

A sportswoman from the army of champions, captain of the Torch Relay

The torchbearers have prestigious athletes as their ambassadors, "the captains of the relay", to drive the energy of sport through these relays. Mona Francis, a top-level defence athlete in the Army of Champions, European paratriathlon champion and currently preparing for the 2024 Paralympic Games, has been chosen by Paris 2024 to be one of the relay captains. At her side, Florent Manaudou, a former top-level sportsman from the French Ministry of Defence and Olympic swimming champion.

An Air and Space Force reservist, ambassador for the Torch Relay

Thomas Pesquet, a reservist in the French Air Force, is one of the four public figures chosen as the first ambassadors of the Torch Relay. He has been chosen alongside three other personalities, including Thierry Marx, a former member of the French Army to embody the energies of the Relay: the energy of sport, the energy of yhe territories and the energy of the collective. They will carry the flame and celebrate this festive moment with the French people.

Military sites crossed by the torch

The Olympic flame is scheduled to pass through three military sites:

• the National School for Active Non-Commissioned Officers in Saint-Maixent on June 2^nd 2024;
• the Verdun Memorial on June 29^th 2024;
• the National Defence Sport Center in Fontainebleau on July 20^th 2024;
• the castle of Vincennes on July 21^th 2024;
• the Mont Valerien on July 24^th 2024.

The Paralympic flame is scheduled to return to the National Defence Sport Center (CNSD) in Fontainebleau on August 27^th 2024 and to the National Invalides Institut on August 28^th 2024.

Armies in the stage towns

From May 9^th to August 27^th 2024, the Ministry of the Armed Forces will be offering young people aged between 18 and 26, free of charge, the occasion to take part in the Champions' Course, a sporting challenge on a Sports Practice Optimisation Module created by a member of the armed forces for the training of military personnel, in each stage town in mainland France (excluding Corsica) that closes the relay stage each day.