Olympic Flame to Take Seaborne Journey to 2024 Paris Games

FILE - Greek actress Xanthi Georgiou, playing the role of High Priestess, lights the torch with the flame during the Olympic flame handover ceremony at Panathinean stadium in Athens, Greece, Tuesday, Oct. 19, 2021. (AP Photo/Petros Giannakouris, File)
FILE - Greek actress Xanthi Georgiou, playing the role of High Priestess, lights the torch with the flame during the Olympic flame handover ceremony at Panathinean stadium in Athens, Greece, Tuesday, Oct. 19, 2021. (AP Photo/Petros Giannakouris, File)
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Olympic Flame to Take Seaborne Journey to 2024 Paris Games

FILE - Greek actress Xanthi Georgiou, playing the role of High Priestess, lights the torch with the flame during the Olympic flame handover ceremony at Panathinean stadium in Athens, Greece, Tuesday, Oct. 19, 2021. (AP Photo/Petros Giannakouris, File)
FILE - Greek actress Xanthi Georgiou, playing the role of High Priestess, lights the torch with the flame during the Olympic flame handover ceremony at Panathinean stadium in Athens, Greece, Tuesday, Oct. 19, 2021. (AP Photo/Petros Giannakouris, File)

The Olympic flame is going for a sail.

Instead of arriving overland, the symbolic flame alighting the 2024 Paris Games will take to the seas from its birthplace in Greece, arriving aboard a three-masted tall ship in the French port of Marseille.

Paris organizers announced the flame’s journey on Friday at City Hall in Marseille, a former Greek colony founded 2,600 years ago, The Associated Press said.

According to tradition, the flame will be lit by the sun’s rays at a ceremony in Ancient Olympia. Then it will be carried by the Olympic torch to Athens and across the Mediterranean to the famed Old Port of Marseille, where the flame will be greeted by an armada of boats along the French coastline, organizers said.

It will travel to the Marseille marina -- where Olympic sailing competitions will be based -- and the Marseille stadium hosting Olympic soccer games, according to the organizers.

After that it will be carried overland in the traditional torch relay, before arriving in Paris to light the cauldron and officially open the 2024 Games, which run July 26-Aug. 11.

Friday’s announcement came as the general assembly of Ukraine’s National Olympic Committee was meeting in Kyiv to discuss a possible boycott of Paris 2024 if Russian athletes are allowed to compete.

The International Olympic Committee last week sought to chart a path for athletes from Russia and Belarus who have not actively supported the war in Ukraine to join the Paris Olympics. That provoked strong objections from Ukraine, which wants those countries banned from most international sports.



Xabi Alonso Confirms He’s Leaving Bayer Leverkusen Ahead of Expected Move to Real Madrid

Head coach Xabi Alonso of Bayer Leverkusen attends a press conference in Leverkusen, Germany, 09 May 2025. (EPA)
Head coach Xabi Alonso of Bayer Leverkusen attends a press conference in Leverkusen, Germany, 09 May 2025. (EPA)
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Xabi Alonso Confirms He’s Leaving Bayer Leverkusen Ahead of Expected Move to Real Madrid

Head coach Xabi Alonso of Bayer Leverkusen attends a press conference in Leverkusen, Germany, 09 May 2025. (EPA)
Head coach Xabi Alonso of Bayer Leverkusen attends a press conference in Leverkusen, Germany, 09 May 2025. (EPA)

Bayer Leverkusen coach Xabi Alonso is leaving the German club after this season, ahead of an expected move to Real Madrid.

“This is the right moment to announce it,” the Spanish coach said Friday, ahead of what will be his final home game on Sunday. “Clarity is good for everyone.”

The 43-year-old Alonso ended weeks of speculation by informing his players before Friday’s training session that he was leaving, one year before his contract with the club expires in 2026.

Alonso, a former Madrid player, led Leverkusen to an unprecedented league and cup double last season after taking over the team when it was in the Bundesliga’s relegation zone in October 2022.

“I think that we can be happy, we can proud of what we have achieved during this time,” Alonso said.

His Leverkusen team remains the only one to complete a Bundesliga season unbeaten.

However, it was a tall order to replicate that form this season. Leverkusen conceded the league title to Bayern Munich last weekend with two games left to play.

“I have tried to squeeze them as much as possible. They have given me so much, so maybe we are empty right now,” Alonso said of his players.

The Leverkusen job was Alonso's first in senior management after a stellar playing career with Madrid, Liverpool, and Bayern. He spent three years as a reserve-team coach at Real Sociedad, another former club. He started his coaching career at Madrid’s youth setup.

“I have learned so many things and I have improved as a coach, as someone that needs to have more resources for myself, for the future,” Alonso said of his time in Leverkusen. “It has worked pretty well, I would say.”

He remembered his first meeting with Leverkusen chief executive Fernando Carro and sporting director Simon Rolfes in San Sebastian, Spain, when they convinced him to take over their under-performing team.

“We had some ideas, some expectations. So once you fulfill them, you can say that the job was done,” Alonso said.

He declined to say where he will be going next.

“Now is not the day to talk about the future,” said Alonso, who is reportedly the lead candidate to replace Carlo Ancelotti at Madrid.

Ancelotti is under contract until the end of next season, but he is widely expected to leave after a campaign in which Madrid struggled despite adding Kylian Mbappé to its squad.

Ancelotti faces a huge match on Sunday when Madrid visits Barcelona, trailing its rival by four points and needing a victory to maintain hope of defending its La Liga title.

Brazil has been courting Ancelotti for over a year but talks about the national team job have dragged on. Ancelotti has deflected questions on his future by saying he will announce his plans when the season ends.

Alonso's final two Bundesliga games with Leverkusen are against Borussia Dortmund at home on Sunday, before a visit to Mainz on the final day of the season.