The sacred flame for the Paris 2024 Olympics will be lit Tuesday in ancient Olympia, the birthplace of the ancient Games, for an epic torch relay stretching from the Acropolis to the South Pacific.
Hundreds of dignitaries and spectators are expected to attend the ritual in the small Peloponnese town in southwestern Greece, where the Olympics were born in 776 BCE, and the ceremony is held every two years for the summer and winter Olympics.
For the first time since the COVID-19 pandemic imposed toned-down events for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics and 2022 Beijing Winter Games, spectators can attend the torch relay events.
At a rehearsal Monday, Greek actress Mary Mina brought the Olympic flame to life with the help of a parabolic polished mirror before handing it to the first torchbearer, 2020 Olympic rowing champion Stefanos Ntouskos.
It will be used as a backup in case the overcast skies forecast for Tuesday prevent the mirror from producing flame.
The ceremony will be conducted at the ruins of the 2,600-year-old Temple of Hera, with Greek President Katerina Sakellaropoulou and International Olympic Committee President Thomas Bach heading the list of dignitaries.
French sports minister Amelie Oudea-Castera and Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo will also be present.
“We hear nature, the rustling of the leaves, there is a sacred silence,” Artemis Ignatiou, the choreographer and artistic director of the Olympic flame ceremony, told state TV ERT about the dance performance.
