Seychelles is among a host of nations that participated in the Olympic relay around the world on Thursday in which almost 400 children and adults were present.

Held at the Roche Caiman Sports Complex, the event, organised in collaboration with the French Ambassador to Seychelles, the sports ministry and the National Sports Council (NSC), where participants ran around the fitness trail. Younger participants did laps around the Champion's Park Raceway.

The event is part of the "Terre De Jeux 2024" relay around the world organised by the French Ministry of Europe and Foreign Affairs in partnership with the Sports and Olympic Games and Paralympics. It was first organised in 2022.

The relay will last for 24 hours around the world and during the day, the virtual baton will be passed on between various countries, which will then pass it on to others. It will go through five continents with over 146 embassies and consulates taking part.

"We are very happy to have the children able to be part of this event, where we continue to push the Olympic values among the youth, while also looking to encourage more people to do sports," said the French Ambassador to Seychelles, Olivia Berkeley-Christmann.

Younger participants did laps around the Champion's Park Raceway. (Seychelles News Agency) Photo License: CC-BY

Seychelles received the virtual baton from Sri Lanka, through their High Commissioner Srimal Wickremasinghe, and then will pass it on to Turkey.

The event saw several students from various schools participate including from the French School of Seychelles.  

Adley Lauricourt, one of their students, who is also a name already popular in local athletics, said, "It was a nice event, with a lot of other students participating, so I think it's great that it's promoting sport."

Lauricourt has represented Seychelles, an archipelago in the western Indian Ocean, at the international level and his dream is to one day compete at the Olympic Games.   

The relay around the world aims to share the energy of the Olympic and Paralympic Games in Paris 2024 with all territories, municipalities, departments, regions, metropolitan areas, or overseas diplomatic and consular posts around the world.

The 2024 Summer Olympics, known as Paris 2024, is an upcoming international multi-sport event scheduled will take place from 26 July to 11 August 2024 in France.

The Games will be the first to feature an identical number of athletes between men and women.