The lighting of the Olympic cauldron is a spectacle steeped in both tradition and secrecy.
With just one day until the opening ceremony, the identity of the individual who will light the cauldron remains unknown. Paris 2024 organizing committee president Tony Estanguet said Sunday the individual wasn’t yet aware of their selection.
But we can make a few guesses — both likely and improbable. Here are 10 potential candidates, and one very unlikely candidate.
Marie-José Pérec
Marie-José Pérec won three gold medals representing France in track and field. (Photo: Jean-Loup Gautreau /AFP via Getty Images)
Pérec won three gold medals in track at the Summer Games in 1992 and 1996. She first won 400-meter gold in 1992 in Barcelona, then defended that title in 1996 in Atlanta while adding a gold in the 200, making her the second-ever 200/400 double gold medalist.
Since retiring, Pérec was awarded the Officier de la Légion d’honneur in 2013. She was already a torchbearer earlier this month, when she became the first person to carry the Olympic torch through her native island of Guadeloupe. Estanguet previously said someone who already carried the torch would not be ruled out of consideration
Zinedine Zidane
A three-time FIFA World Player of the Year and the 1998 Ballon d’Or winner, Zidane earned 108 caps for the nation and led the country to its first World Cup title in 1998. His international reputation became infamous, however, when he was red-carded in his last game for the national team for headbutting Italy’s Marco Materazzi in the chest in the 2006 World Cup final.
Zidane most recently coached Real Madrid from 2019 to 2021.
Kylian Mbappé
Kylian Mbappé may not have the resume of Zidane, but his star has arguably shined brighter in his young career thus far. The 25-year-old led France to 2018 World Cup triumph, becoming the second teenager in history (after Pelé) to score in a final, then led France to another World Cup final in 2022. There, he established himself as one of the world’s premier talents, securing the tournament’s Golden Boot after scoring eight goals and notching the first hat trick in a men’s final since 1966.
Mbappé previously said he wanted to represent France at the Games, but he won’t be playing in the Olympics after joining Real Madrid, who refused to release him for the Games.
GO DEEPER
Kylian Mbappe: The incredible, inevitable rise of a superstar as he joins Real Madrid
Omar Sy
If organizers want to look outside the sporting world, Sy would top the list in the entertainment sector. He starred in Jurassic World, X-Men, Inferno and Transformers, and was nominated for a Golden Globe for Best Actor in 2022 for his role in Lupin.
Non-athletes have lit the cauldron a handful of times in the past, such as Haakon, the crown prince of Norway, in 1994 and Chung Sun-man, a schoolteacher in South Korea, in 1988.
Emmanuel Macron
Speaking of non-athletes, could Macron, the French president, light the cauldron as he attempts to reignite his own political reputation? As his country wrestles with political turmoil amid a recent snap legislative election, Macron said Thursday he is ambitious to showcase his country’s beauty and heritage at the Olympics.
Thierry Henry
Thierry Henry is coaching the French men’s soccer team at the Olympics. (Photo: Nicolas Tucat / AFP via Getty Images)
Another French soccer legend, Henry is considered by many to be the greatest player in Arsenal history and one of the most dangerous strikers to ever set foot on a pitch. He tallied 123 caps for France and scored 51 goals, making him the nation’s all-time leading scorer. He was the team’s leading scorer during its 1998 World Cup title run and later transitioned to coaching after retirement. In 2023, he was named manager of France’s U21 team, meaning he is also coaching the team’s Olympic squad this summer.
Victor Wembanyama
This may be early in the not-yet-written legend of Wembanyama’s budding basketball career, but can you imagine the sight of Wembanyama’s 7-foot-4 slender frame stooping to light the cauldron? The No. 1 pick of the 2023 NBA Draft somehow surpassed generational expectations in his rookie season, and will make his Olympic debut with France this summer.
In his debut with the French senior team in 2022, he scored 20 points and grabbed nine rebounds as an 18-year-old.
Thomas Pesquet
Back to the non-athletes — how about the popular astronaut Pesquet? At the 2020 Olympics, Pesquest played the French national anthem, La Marseillaise, on a saxophone — from 254 miles above Earth aboard the International Space Station.
Martin Fourcade
Fourcade is France’s most decorated Olympian — but in a winter sport (biathlon). The 35-year-old has won five gold and two silver medals, including three golds in 2018 in Pyeongchang. He also served as a torchbearer in the lead-up to the opening ceremony.
Tony Parker
Tony Parker had his number retired before a French Olympic tuneup game earlier this month. (Photo: Maxime Gruss / AFP via Getty Images)
San Antonio Spurs legend Tony Parker won four NBA titles and was beloved in France for continuing to represent the country’s senior team amid his NBA career. He played in every FIBA EuroBasket tournament from 2001 to 2015 and was named MVP of the tournament in 2013 after leading France to the gold medal.
The six-time NBA All-Star had his number No. 9 jersey retired by the French Federation of Basketball earlier this month, a rare honor in France. His jersey retirement is considered the first of its kind in the nation’s history, for any sport.
Joel Embiid
Just kidding. The loudest boos of the Olympics may be reserved for American center Joel Embiid, who will play for the United States. French basketball president Jean-Pierre Siutat told The Athletic Embiid previously expressed interest in representing France at the 2024 Games. The Philadelphia 76ers star was born in Cameroon and raised in the United States, but he received a French passport in 2022.
Embiid has stated he never asked for citizenship, but reports of a letter he sent to Macron have surfaced in which Embiid is alleged to have said, “I wish to take steps to obtain French naturalization and thus be able to be selected with the Blues. I therefore do not wish to play for any other national team.”
GO DEEPER
Frédéric Weis: ‘I hate’ Joel Embiid for spurning France
Recent honorees
Previous cauldron lighters have ranged from current stars to retired legends to political figures. Recent Games have also featured groups of people sharing the honor together.
- 2021 Summer (Tokyo): Naomi Osaka, tennis player
- 2018 Winter (Pyeongchang): Yuna Kim, figure skater
- 2016 Summer (Rio de Janeiro): Vanderlei Cordeiro de Lima, marathon runner
- 2014 Winter (Sochi): Vladislav Tretiak, ice hockey
- 2012 Summer (London): A group of seven teenagers chosen by veteran British Olympians
- 2010 Winter (Vancouver): Wayne Gretzky (ice hockey) and Steve Nash (basketball)
Required reading
(Photo: Christian Petersen / Getty Images)
