The Olympic Flame has been lit with the traditional Lighting Ceremony held in Ancient Olympia, Greece on 16 April, marking a major step towards the Olympic Games Paris 2024.
Excitement is building for the first Olympic Games on European soil in 12 years, and it was evident in the fervent atmosphere which accompanied the morning’s proceedings.
European Olympic Committees (EOC) President Spyros Capralos attended the Lighting Ceremony in his capacity as the head of the Hellenic Olympic Committee, while International Olympic Committee President Thomas Bach, President of the Hellenic Republic Katerina Sakellaropoulou, Mayor of Ancient Olympia Aristidis Panagiotopoulos and President of the Organising Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games Paris 2024 Tony Estanguet were all in attendance.
Speaking during the ceremony, EOC President Capralos underlined the significance of the Olympic Games as a symbol of peace and understanding.
“The Olympic flame will begin its journey to Paris, and to the first Olympic Games in Europe after 12 years, to spread the great vision of peace and brotherhood of peoples,” President Capralos said.
“This message of the Olympic light is again very timely and should be sent everywhere on the planet, as we live in turbulent times with war conflicts having broken out in different parts of the planet, but also with the fear of terrorism being visible again.
“Let’s not forget that in ancient times, wars between cities were temporarily stopped during the Olympic Games with the implementation of the Olympic Truce.
“So may the Olympic flame with its birth and its journey until the Opening Ceremony of the Olympic Games, succeed in extinguishing the Flames of war that are currently smouldering in countries, cities and peoples and threatening peace on Earth.”
The concept of the Olympic Flame dates back to the ceremonies of the Olympic Games of 1936, which took place on the same site as today’s lighting. After the singing of the Olympic anthem performed by Mezzo-Soprano Joyce DiDonato and accompanied by the hoisting of the Olympic flag, the national anthems of France and Greece were played by childrens’ choirs from the Saint-Paul and Paidagogiki-Birds schools.
The Olympic Flame was lit using a parabolic dish at the Temple of Hera by an actress playing the part of the High Priestess – a highly significant milestone with Wednesday marking 100 days until the Opening Ceremony of the Olympic Games. It was carried into the Ancient Stadium, and handed over by the High Priestess to the first Torchbearer along with an olive branch as a symbol of peace.
Rower Stefanos Ntouskos, a gold medallist with Greece at the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020, had the honour of being the first Torchbearer, and carried the flame to the Pierre de Coubertin Monument, containing the heart of the founder of the modern Olympic movement.
More than 600 Torchbearers will carry the Olympic Flame through Greece over the next 11 days to the Panathenaic Stadium in Athens, which will stage Handover Ceremony of the Olympic Flame to the Organising Committee on April 26.
From there, it will travel on the historic three-masted sailing ship Belem across the Mediterranean from Piraeus to Marseille, where it will arrive in May 8. The flame will then embark on a journey across France, arriving in Paris on Bastille Day on July 14 and lighting the Olympic cauldron at the Opening Ceremony on July 26.
The Olympic Torch Relay serves to honour historical connections between Greece and France, and represents a remarkable show of solidarity in Europe.
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