Paris Olympics 2024: How an Olympic torch is lighting up lives

CGTN Europe

Ten thousand people will carry the Olympic flame on its relay across France. It's now approaching its final destination: Paris, for the opening ceremony on Friday. Our correspondent Ross Cullen met one of the torch bearers.  #olympics #paris24 #torch

Transcript

00:00This is Anthony Desjardins, one of the Olympic torchbearers.

00:04He ran in the relay just five days after the flame arrived on French soil.

00:09The 41-year-old says he was very nervous in the moments leading up to grasping the torch for the first time.

00:15Bizarrely, as soon as I stepped off the bus to go carry the flame, all the stress disappeared.

00:23I felt as though I was on cloud nine.

00:25I was really proud because I was carrying the flame and also a message.

00:30And that message comes from experience.

00:32Anthony suffers from Parkinson's disease, having been diagnosed three years ago at the age of 38.

00:39The illness is progressing but is in check thanks to treatment.

00:44Anthony wants to raise public awareness of the number of young people with the disease

00:48through his social media profiles and a series of videos on YouTube.

00:53He was one of 10,000 people who was chosen to be a torchbearer,

00:57selected for his commitment and action in bringing sport to people who have Parkinson's.

01:03I have a project called Ciel Montparquis, where I actually take a step back from the camera

01:10and let other people with the disease tell their stories.

01:13It's a first-person type of program.

01:15With this, I try to inform as many people as possible.

01:18My goal is to grow this YouTube channel and reach a maximum number of people.

01:23Anthony took part in the relay in the southern city of Montpellier,

01:27close to where the Olympic sailing competition will be taking place.

01:31The Olympic flame has travelled thousands of kilometres across the country,

01:35from the capital city to the overseas territories to the snowy peaks of the Alps

01:40and here, the sun-baked south of the country.

01:43Anthony, like all the torchbearers, was presented with keepsakes to mark his part in the relay,

01:49a memento of his role in creating history in the first summer games in France for 100 years.

01:56Ross Cullen, CGTN, Montpellier, in southern France.

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