The Olympic Flame, the symbol of the Olympic Games, is being lit on Tuesday in Ancient Olympia and begins its long journey to Paris for the Summer Olympics.
Some 600 dignitaries attend the ceremony, headed by Greek President Katerina Sakellaropoulou and International Olympic Committee (IOC) President Thomas Bach.
The ritual includes actresses in the role of ancient priestesses coaxing the Olympic flame into life with the help of a parabolic polished mirror in Olympia, where the Games first took place in 776 BC.
🔥 The Olympic flame for #Paris2024 is lit!#Paris2024 | @Paris2024 pic.twitter.com/1odw4ga9G0
— The Olympic Games (@Olympics) April 16, 2024
The Olympic flame is carried by Mary Mina, the priestess, in a choreography inspired and directed by the choreographer Artemis Ignatiou to music composed by Dimitris Papadimitriou and performed by 35 priestesses and 15 kouroi. The costumes for the performers were created by the internationally renowned designer Mary Katrantzou.
The Olympic anthem was sung by the successful mezzo-soprano Joyce DiDonato, and the master of ceremonies was the renowned journalist Nikos Aliagas.
The Olympic flame will be handed over to gold medalist Stefanos Douskos by Priestess Mary Mina to begin the torch relay on Greek soil, which will last for eleven days until April 26th.
The lighting of the Olympic Flame at Ancient Olympia
The Lighting of the Olympic flame traditionally takes place in Ancient Olympia and is carried out by the Hellenic Olympic Committee.
Its history begins in 1936 on the occasion of the Olympic Games in Berlin. With the help of a concave mirror and according to rituals, the lighting is performed by the High Priestess in the Temple of Hera (Heraion) in the archaeological site of Olympia.
There, the priestess requests that the sun god Apollo assist her in lighting the torch as she makes the invocation.
The first Lighting of the Olympic Flame in Ancient Olympia took place on July 20, 1936 for the Berlin Olympic Games with the then High Priestess Koula Pratsika, who is considered a pioneer of classical dance in Greece and was the first choreographer of the lighting ceremony.
After two editions of the Olympic Games that have lost their great ‘glow’ due to restrictions associated with the COVID-19 pandemic, namely the Tokyo Summer Olympics in 2021 and the Beijing Winter Olympics in 2022, the traditional ceremony at the cradle of the Olympism regained all its colors with a live audience.
The Olympic torch relay program in Greece
From April 16th to April 26th, the Olympic Flame will travel throughout Greece. The torch relay program will be as follows:
On the first day, Tuesday, April 16th the torch relay will start at ancient Olympia and will continue to the towns of Amaliada, Ilida, Andravida, Gastouni, Pyrgos, Zaharo, Filiatra, and Pylos.
Starting from Pylos on the second day, Wednesday, April 17th, the relay will make its way to Methoni, Sparta, Tegea, Tripoli, Mycenae, Nafplion, Nemea, and Piraeus.
From the port of Piraeus on Thursday, April 18th, the flame will be transported by ferry to Crete and then by air to the island of Kastellorizo. It will return to Crete on the same day to continue the relay to the towns of Agios Nikolaos, Knossos, Heraklion, Rethymno, and Chania.
The Olympic flame will return overnight to Piraeus.
On the fourth day, Friday, April 19th, the flame will be flown to the islands of Santorini, Naxos, and Paros before returning to Athens.
On Saturday, April 20th, the relay will start from the Acropolis and continue to Delphi, Lamia, and Volos.
On the sixth day, Sunday, April 21st, the Olympic relay will leave Volos for Thessaloniki, passing through the towns of Larissa, Trikala, Kalambaka, and Meteora.
From Thessaloniki on the seventh day, the relay will take the Olympic Flame to ancient Phillipi, Kavala, Xanthi, Komotini, and Alexandroupoli.
On the eighth day, Tuesday, April 23rd, the flame will be taken to the towns of Eleftheroupolis, Veria, Vergina, Aegai and Ioannina.
From Ionanina, on its ninth day, the relay will continue to the port of Igoumenitsa and on to the island of Corfu.
On Thursday, April 25th, it will start in Corfu and move on to Messolongi, Patra, and Corinth.
Finally on the eleventh day, Friday, April 26th, the Olympic flame will be handed over to Paris 2024 organizers in a ceremony at the all-marble Panathenaic Stadium in Athens, site of the first modern Olympic Games of 1896.
Nana Mouskouri, the 89-year-old Greek singer with a worldwide following, has been invited to perform at the ceremony.
On April 27th, the flame will begin its journey to France on board the 19th-century three-masted barque Belem, which was launched just weeks after the Athens 1896 Games.
Related: World Athletics Introduces $50,000 Prize for Gold Medal Winners at Paris Olympics
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