Olympic torch lit as 100-day countdown begins
The Eiffel Tower's countdown clock to the Paris 2024 Olympics turned to 100 days on Tuesday as preparations for the Games entered the final straight. The Olympic torch was lit in ancient Olympia earlier in the day. It will reach France on May 8 in the port city of Marseille, after a journey on the three-masted Belem ship. All permanent infrastructures for the Games are now ready, and the building of temporary sites has started in Paris, notably on the Place de la Concorde. Organisers will count on the flame relay across France for the mood to swing in the country as the July 26-August 11 Games approach. Last month, a poll showed that, in France, 57 percent of people felt little or no enthusiasm for the Paris Games. Paris 2024 posters were displayed in metro stations on Tuesday and some landmark monuments paid tribute to the upcoming Games, while the stairs leading up to the Sacre Coeur basilica were being painted with the Games' colours. (Reuters)