Organizers of the Winter Olympics received the Olympic flame on December 4 at a ceremony at the Panathenaic Stadium in Athens. This is reported by Reuters.
The ceremony was cut short due to heavy rain warnings, as was the case last week during the lighting of the flame in Ancient Olympia. The flame was received by Giovanni Malago, the head of the organizing committee of the Milan-Cortina Olympic Games.
Ahead is a 63-day, 12,000-kilometer relay, in which 1,001 torchbearers will take part. They will carry the flame through all 20 regions of Italy, 110 provinces, 60 Italian cities, and 300 villages.
On January 26, the flame will arrive in Cortina d’Ampezzo. On February 6, it will end its journey at the Olympic Opening Ceremony at the San Siro Stadium in Milan.