Winter Olympics rehearsal ceremony takes place in Greece

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The dress rehearsal for the PyeongChang 2018 Winter Olympics was successfully held on Monday at ancient Olympia in western Greece, the birthplace of the Olympic Games.

On a mostly cloudy day, shortly before a heavy rainfall, Greek actress Katerina Lehou played the role of an ancient High Priestess and managed to light the torch out of a parabolic mirror in front of the ruins of the 2,500-year-old temple dedicated to Hera, a goddess of ancient Greek mythology.

Accompanied by three dozen young female and male dancers playing the roles of priestesses, goddesses and youths, Lehou prayed for the Gods to bring peace to the world and help the South Korean city host a successful Games.

"Apollo, god of sun and the idea of the light, send your rays and light the sacred torch for the hospitable city of PyeongChang, and you Zeus, give peace to all peoples on earth and wreath the winners of the sacred race," she said.

Greek actress Katerina Lehou playing the role of an ancient High Priestess managed to lit the torch out of a parabolic mirror in front of the ruins of a 2,500-year-old temple./ Reuters photo

Following a mythology-inspired dance performance inside the ancient stadium, which hosted the first Olympics thousands of years ago, the high priestess handed the torch, with the flame and an olive branch, to the first torchbearer.

Greek cross country skier and biathlon athlete Apostolos Angelis, who was chosen as the first torchbearer, started the rehearsal relay on Monday, after a dancer released a pigeon to spread the Olympic ideals of friendship and peace to the world.

The official lighting ceremony will be held on October 24, starting a torch relay across Greece before the Greek organizers pass the flame to the South Korean delegation in a handover ceremony at the Panathinaic Stadium in Athens on October 31.

During a meeting on Monday, the Hellenic Olympic Committee (HOC) unanimously decided that the ceremony will be held at the ancient stadium as usual, despite the bad weather forecast, according to a HOC press release.

Artemis Ignatiou, the choreographer of the lighting and handover ceremonies, said everyone involved in the ceremony is determined to give their best performance, braving the rain and the cold.

An advertising board of Pyeongchang Winter Olympics/ Reuter

"The entire team responded with a resounding 'yes.' We will fully support our work, because we want to convey to the world the message of unity. [We want to show] that we can achieve the best even under difficult conditions," she said.

The 40-member strong team that Ignatiou leads, which includes actors, dancers, musicians and support staff, have worked hard over the past six months on the choreography which is inspired by Nymphs, female nature deities in ancient Greek mythology, she explained.

Confident that the start of the flame's journey in ancient Olympia will be flawless, the Greek choreographer hopes that she will be able to be in South Korea this winter for the opening of the equally flawless games.

The second leg of the relay will end on February at the main venue which will host the PyeongChang Games.

Source(s): Xinhua News Agency