Gold medal-winning eventer carries Olympic torch by means of coronary heart of Paris

Eventing gold medallist Colonel Thibaut Vallette carried the Olympic torch into the center of Paris on Bastille Day in a major second within the flame’s journey to the 2024 Olympics.

Throughout the Bastille Day celebrations on Sunday (14 July), Thibaut carried the torch on horseback to the presidential grandstand – flanked by mounted horsemen of the Cadre Noir.

French president Emmanuel Macron shared a video of the occasion, describing it as “distinctive second of the parade”.

A complete of 220 torchbearers have been concerned within the relay within the French capital, together with former worldwide footballer Thierry Henry on the Avenue des Champs-Elysées and former tennis participant Yannick Noah, who lit the celebration cauldron in entrance of the Hôtel de Ville.

The Olympic torch has round 9 extra stops on its journey, earlier than returning to Paris for the opening ceremony (26 July).

Worldwide Olympic Committee president Thomas Bach known as on the world to “come collectively to have fun and to get pleasure from collectively spectacular Olympic Video games Paris 2024”, in an opinion piece printed throughout three nationwide French titles.

“The stage is about: the athletes are prepared, all of France is prepared, the Olympic motion is prepared,” he mentioned. “These Olympic Video games shall be about sport – and about greater than sport.”

Thibaut, écuyer en chef (director) of the Cadre Noir, was a part of the profitable French aspect in Rio 2016 together with his nice championship staff campaigner Qing Du Briot IFCE. Thibaut and the Selle Français gelding, owned by the Institut Français du Chevalier, competed at Badminton in 2017 and in addition helped France to world staff bronze in 2018, plus particular person and staff bronze medals on the 2015 Europeans.

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H&H senior information author

Lucy is an skilled information journalist, reporter and presenter. Since becoming a member of the Horse & Hound staff in 2015, Lucy has reported from main world sporting occasions together with the Tokyo Paralympic Video games and a number of European Championships, in addition to Badminton, Burghley and London, to call just a few. She has coated present affairs and sports activities information throughout the total spectrum of equestrian disciplines and racing, in addition to human and equine welfare, business information and court docket instances.