Flame for the 2026 Winter Olympics lit in Greece – photos, video

On Wednesday, November 26, the torch for the 2026 Winter Olympics to be held in Italy was lit indoors in Ancient Olympia. This was reported by the agency Reuters.

The traditional ceremony, usually held at the stadium where the Games originated in ancient Greece, in which actresses play the role of priestesses who ignite flames from the sun's rays using a parabolic mirror, was canceled early due to warnings of heavy rain.

Therefore, the ceremony took place indoors. Instead of a lavish performance, the staff of the Archaeological Museum of Olympia held a modest event where they showed a video of the flame being lit during a rehearsal two days ago at the stadium, after which the flame was brought to the museum to be lit.

Greek rower Petros Gaidatzis was the first torchbearer to leave the museum, and he was soon joined by Stefania Belmondo, a multiple Olympic skiing medalist from Italy, for a joint leg of the relay.

After a week-long Greek relay, the torch will be handed over to the organizers of the Italian Olympics on December 4 in Athens. After that, the torch will travel to the host country, where a domestic relay will begin.

The torch will pass through 60 Italian cities and 300 villages with a total of more than 10,000 torch-bearers before reaching Cortina d'Ampezzo on January 26, exactly 70 years after the opening ceremony of the 1956 Games at the same venue.

The Italian relay will pass through famous landmarks such as the Colosseum in Rome and the Grand Canal in Venice, with stops in southern cities such as Palermo and Naples to generate excitement in regions where winter sports are not as popular.

The journey will end in Milan, where the opening ceremony will take place at the San Siro Stadium on February 6. The 2026 Winter Olympics will take place in Italy on February 6-22.

• In October, the Italian Foreign Minister stated that the country will strive to achieve a global truce for the duration of the 2026 Winter Olympics.
• The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine reported that support the proposal regarding the so-called Olympic truce with Russia.