At over 90 years old, former Senegalese rifleman Oumar Dieme considers it something of a miracle that he will be carrying the Olympic torch as part of the opening of this summer’s Paris Games.

In the shade of mango and silk-cotton trees, he recounts his time in the “Senegalese tirailleurs” — a corps of African infantrymen who fought for France during the two world wars and various decolonization struggles.

Dieme’s medal-adorned traditional boubou speaks of his service in former French Indochina and later Algeria, as he recalls those who never returned to their homeland.

“Many colleagues stayed behind. Others came back mutilated (or) are no more,” he said, his blue cap pinned with a sergeant’s rank.

Dieme explained that some 20 men from his village of Badiana in the southern Casamance region served in the Senegalese Tirailleurs corps until it was disbanded in the 1960s.

He added that he was one of the “lucky” one

“I’m the only survivor. It was a miracle that I was chosen,” he recounted, surrounded by family members and crumbling buildings.

Dieme has been selected as one of the torchbearers to carry the Olympic torch as it passes through the Parisian department of Seine-Saint-Denis for the opening of the Games at the end of July.

Organizers accepted the bid from the department, where Dieme lived before his return to Senegal in 2023.