Who are Marie-Josée Perec and Teddy Riner, chosen to light the cauldron at the Paris Olympics | Relief

In 2019, Marie-Josée Perec was one of the participants in the French version of the competition. singer maska TV show where famous people sing in costumes and a jury has to guess who it is. Five years later, the revelation of his identity was an event again, but this time much more important. Perec was the one chosen to light the cauldron 2024 Olympic Games in Paris, along with judoka Teddy Riner, who is still competing.

The personality of the protagonist of this moment one of the most closely guarded secrets every edition of the Olympic Games. Also in Paris, although Emmanuel Macron has already dropped Perec’s name, and it was one of the options under consideration.

The ceremony was most exciting. After the swap of Zidane and Rafa Nadal, the Spaniard was in a boat with legends Carl Lewis, Serena Williams and Nadia Comaneci. They passed the torch to Amelie Mauresmo and then to Tony Parker. Paralympic flag bearers Alexis Hankinquan, Nanten Keita and Marie-Amelie Le Four continued on. They were joined by handball legend Michel Guigou and fencer Jean-François Lammour. Alain Bernard and Laura Manaudou appeared on stage until the final performance by Teddy Riner and Marie José Perec..

Riner is a cult French judoka and will be seeking his third Olympic gold after winning it in London and Rio de Janeiro. Together with Perec, they carried the flame to the cauldron, a hot air balloon that rose into the sky to remind the world that the Olympic spirit must never fade.

Three Olympic gold medals.

Track and field legend, List one of the most successful French athletesHe was born in May 1968 in Guadeloupe and achieved his greatest success in the 90s. Between 1990 and 1996, he won three Olympic gold medals, two World and two European medals, adding a European bronze.Marie-Josée Perec, along with cyclist Felicia Ballanger, is the only French woman to have won three Olympic gold medals.

He was a 400-meter specialist, although he also won the 200-meter in Atlanta in 1996.This double had a precedent only with the American Valerie Briscoe-Hooks in Los Angeles in 1984.

Marie-Jose Perec He competed in three Olympic Games: Seoul 1988, Barcelona 1992 and Atlanta 1996.. She was also due to compete at Sydney 2000, where she would have faced local Cathy Freeman, who had won silver four years earlier. But while in Australia, he reported receiving threats and left the country.

Teddy Riner, for the glory

Teddy Riner, born in 1989, is a two-time Olympic champion and eight-time world champion in the over 100 kilogram category. He is considered the best judoka in history and was undefeated for ten years. In fact, he was the one who managed to go the longest without losing a single fight, surpassing Yasuhiro Yamashita’s record of 162 consecutive wins.

In Rio he was France’s flag bearer, and now he has lit the cauldron, a moment that is already part of Olympism. After the Games in Brazil, he took a year off. He competed in the 2021 Tokyo Olympics, but fell in the quarterfinalsNow, in front of his people, he is achieving his third gold.