In a historical and unprecedented moment, the Olympic Torch entered the Council of Europe headquarters in Strasbourg on 26 June and was greeted by leading officials, parliamentarians and staff on its journey to the host city of Paris ahead of the 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games. The Torch was carried by Yvette Palatino, world champion of kick-boxing in 1992 and the first female boxing coach in France, into the Council of Europe’s debating chamber, the first time it has ever entered the premises of a parliament.
Theodoros Rousopoulos, President of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE), welcomed the Torch and recalled the 2,800-year-old origins of the Games in his native Greece, and their historic link with France through Pierre de Coubertin’s revival of the modern Games in 1896. “We welcome the Olympic flame of peace into the cradle of human rights!” he declared as the Torch burned in the centre of the Chamber. “We send our best wishes to the International Olympic Committee and to France for the organisation of the Games of the 33rd Olympiad. Bonne route pour Paris!”
On the occasion of the Olympic Torch Relay, the Enlarged Partial Agreement on Sport (EPAS) inaugurated an exhibition on values-based sport, and in particular on the common values of the European Sports Charter and the Olympic Charter. The exhibition will remain on display outside the Council of Europe’s Agora building in Strasbourg until September 2024. Each week, one of the panels of the exhibition will be revealed on the Sport Division’s X account @CoE_Sports. Follow us to learn more!