The Olympic Torch in the Principality of Monaco on 18 June 2024
The Principality of Monaco is one of the prestigious stops on the Olympic Torch relay route, which arrives in Paris on 26 July.
On 18 June at 2.15 pm, the Torch will leave Port Hercule, carried by six consecutive torchbearers to Place du Palais.
This is the second time the Torch has come to Monaco since 1968, when the Winter Olympic Games were held in Grenoble.
H.S.H. Prince Albert II, who is President of the Monegasque Olympic Committee, a member of the International Olympic Committee since 1985 and President of the IOC Sustainability and Legacy Commission, has taken part in the Winter Olympic Games five times as a member of the Monegasque bob sleigh team.
The Sovereign Prince first carried the Olympic Torch in 1996 for the Summer Olympic Games in Atlanta, Georgia, and another nine times for both the Summer and Winter Games.
H.S.H. Princess Charlene, also an Olympic athlete (in swimming), represented her country of origin, South Africa, at the 2000 Summer Olympic Games in Sydney.
H.S.H. the Prince has always been active in promoting sports. He has led several initiatives to encourage the learning and practice of a discipline from an early age and to transmit the values of sports. Another clear example of this commitment is “Peace and Sport”, an organisation under His High Patronage that works to achieve peace through sport. Every year, he awards the Sócrates award at the Ballon d’Or (Golden Ball) ceremony to honour male and female football players who are involved in social and charitable projects.
The Monegasque Olympic Committee was created in 1907. Monaco took part in the Summer Olympic Games for the first time in 1920 and hosted the Women’s Olympiad in 1921, a pioneering event that reflected the country’s unwavering support for the development of sport.
Monaco’s single medal so far was won in 1924 at the Paris Summer Olympics, by Julien Médecin, in the “Art and Literature competitions” so dear to Pierre de Coubertin. Médecin won a bronze medal for his Stadium project in Fontvieille.
Since 1920, a Monegasque delegation has attended the Summer Games 11 times and the Winter Games nine times since 1984.