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Radio France Internationale
Radio France Internationale
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RFI

Olympic torch sets off on 78-day journey across France

French former football player Basile Boli holds the Olympic Torch at the Notre Dame de la Garde Basilica, ahead of the Paris 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games, in Marseille, southeastern France, on May 9, 2024. AFP - CHRISTOPHE SIMON

Marseille (AFP) – The Olympic torch relay began in Marseille on Thursday with football legend Basile Boli taking the flame in front of the iconic basilica of Notre-Dame de la Garde, a day after it made a spectacular entrance by sea.

The former French international, who scored the only goal in Marseille's victory over AC Milan in the 1993 European Champion Clubs' Cup final, set off at 8:20am just beneath the famous golden statue of the "Good Mother", which watches over France's second-largest city.

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