Reuters
[Source: Reuters]
The torch for the Milano-Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics was lit on Thursday in an indoor and scaled-down ceremony in ancient Olympia due to weather warnings, marking the final push for organisers for the event in February.
The traditional ceremony, normally held at the stadium where the Games were born in ancient Greece and using actresses as priestesses who light the flame from the sun’s rays using a parabolic mirror, was scrapped ahead of time due to heavy rain warnings.
Instead, with the sun shining outside, officials inside the Olympia archaeological museum attended a low-key event with a video showing the lighting of the flame during Monday’s rehearsal in the ancient stadium, before the flame was carried into the museum for the torch lighting.
Greek rower Petros Gaidatzis was the first torchbearer who left the museum and he was soon joined by Italy’s multiple Olympic cross-country skiing medallist Stefania Belmondo for a joint leg of the relay.
After a week-long Greek relay, the flame will be handed over in Athens to Italian Games organisers on December 4 before it travels to Italy for the start of a months-long domestic relay.
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