Flame for 2026 Milano Cortina Winter Olympics lit in Ancient Olympia

The flame for the 2026 Milano Cortina Winter Olympics was lit on Wednesday in a scaled-down indoor ceremony at the Greek site of Ancient Olympia, with the location moved due to weather warnings, marking the final push for organizers toward the opening ceremony on February 6.

A number of distinguished guests attended the flame lighting ceremony, including International Olympic Committee President Kirsty Coventry and IOC Honorary President Thomas Bach. In advance of the wet weather forecast, the flame was lit using the rays of the sun during a rehearsal on Monday, preserving the purity of the traditional method.

The flame was then transferred to the official Milano Cortina torch during the ceremony, which saw Paris 2024 men's rowing bronze medalist Petros Gkaidatzis mark the start of the Greek leg of the relay as the first torchbearer. He was then joined by the first Italian torchbearer, two-time Olympic women's cross-country skiing champion Stefania Belmondo, for a joint run before she passed the flame to her compatriot and double Olympic men's luge gold medalist Armin Zoeggeler.​

After a week in Greece, the flame will be handed over in Athens to the organizers on December 4, before heading to Italy for the start of a months-long domestic relay. The torch will pass through 60 Italian cities and 300 towns with a total of 10,001 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 trek will conclude in Milan, entering the San Siro Stadium on the evening of February 6 for the opening ceremony of the 2026 Winter Olympics.