ANCIENT OLYMPIA (Greece), April 16 In Greek Ancient Olympia, where the Olympic Games were born in the eighth century BC, lit the fire for the 2024 Summer Olympic Games in Paris, the correspondent reports.
According to tradition, the fire is lit in the ancient temple of Hera from the sun's rays using a parabolic mirror. But in Ancient Olympia the weather is cloudy, and the fire was lit from the flame received from the rays of the sun the day before at the dress rehearsal of the ceremony.
The “High Priestess,” played by actress Mary Mina, said a prayer to Apollo to send rays and light the fire of the Olympics, and to Zeus to crown the winners of the games with wreaths. After this, the priestess brought the torch to the fire lit the day before.
As the head of the press service of the Greek NOC, Dimos Bouloukos, said, in case of bad weather, the fire received at the rehearsal is kept.
Only officials are allowed into the temple , but the ceremony was broadcast on a big screen in the stadium. The audience greeted the lighting moment with applause.
Present at the stadium in Ancient Olympia are the President of Greece Katerina Sakellaropoulou, the President of the International Olympic Committee Thomas Bach, the President of the NOC of Greece, the President of the European Olympic Committees and IOC member Spyros Kapralos, the head of the Paris 2024 organizing committee Tony Estanguet, the French Minister of Sports and the Olympic and Paralympic Games Amelie Oudea -Caster, Secretary of State for Development, Francophonie and International Cooperation at the French Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs Chrysoula Zacharopoulou, Mayor of Paris Anne Hidalgo, Mayor of Ancient Olympia Aristidis Panagiotopoulos.
The fire lighting ceremony began with the singing of the Olympic anthem and the raising of the Olympic flag, the singing of the national anthems of France and Greece and the raising of the flags of the two countries.
The Olympic anthem was performed by opera diva Joyce DiDonato, a mezzo-soprano from USA, winner of three Grammy awards.
The mayor of Ancient Olympia Panagiotopoulos, the head of the Paris 2024 organizing committee Estangue, the presidents of the IOC Bach and the Greek NOC Kapralos greeted the ceremony participants.
After the fire was lit, a theatrical performance took place, in which 35 “priestesses” and 15 kouros – young athletes took part.
This year, changes were made to the ceremony. The new “high priestess” was actress Mary Mina, who played in a number of well-known TV series in Greece. The music for the fire lighting ceremony this time was written by composer Dimitris Papadimitriou. The clothes of the priestesses have changed – new clothes were created by the world famous designer of Greek origin Marie Katrantzou. The robes of the priestesses and kouros are stylized to resemble ancient Greek columns. The new clothes became two-color – black and white, in contrast to the monochrome clothes of past ceremonies.
After the theatrical performance, the “High Priestess” passed the flame to the first torchbearer of the Olympic torch relay. It was the Olympic champion in rowing, Greek Stefanos Duskos.
The Olympic torch relay will take place over 11 days across Greece and will end on April 26 at the Panathinaikos Stadium in Athens with the transfer of the torch to the Organizing Committee of the Paris 2024 Games.
The torch will travel 5,202 km across Greece in 11 days with 600 torchbearers. The fire will be carried from Crete to Alexandroupolis and from Corfu to Kastellorizo, it will pass through 13 regions, seven islands, 43 cities, 41 municipalities, five communities, 10 archaeological sites and two Olympic museums (Athens and Thessaloniki).
The last one The torchbearer for Greece will be Tokyo 2021 Olympic water polo silver medalist Ioannis Fountoulis.
After being handed over to the organizers of the Paris Games, the flame will spend the night at the French Embassy in Athens, and the next day it will leave for France on the three-masted sailing ship Belem and arrive in Marseille on May 8. The French torch relay will last 68 days and will end with the lighting of the Olympic flame at the opening ceremony of the Games on July 26.
The Olympic Games in Paris will be held from July 26 to August 11, 2024.
The Russian Olympic team is not allowed to participate in the Olympic Games in France.< br>The International Olympic Committee allowed Russians to participate in the Games in an individual neutral status, subject to a number of criteria. A special flag and anthem have been approved for neutral athletes. Russians will not be allowed to participate in the parade of athletes at the opening ceremony, and their awards will not be displayed in the medal table. Due to restrictions on participation in qualifying competitions, a maximum of 55 Russians will be able to qualify for the Games. Russian President Vladimir Putin previously said that “international officials are distorting the meaning of the Olympic movement and undermining the foundations of international sport.”
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