Under a cloud, the Olympic flame
begins its journey to the Milan Cortina Winter Olympics
[November 26, 2025]
By DEREK GATOPOULOS and PETROS GIANNAKOURIS
ANCIENT OLYMPIA, Greece (AP) — The Olympic flame began its journey
Wednesday to the Milan Cortina Winter Games — missing a little of
its usual magic.
Bad weather lashing western Greece forced organizers to move the
torch-lighting ceremony indoors, from Olympia’s ancient stadium and
temples to a nearby museum.
The flame is lit by focusing the sun’s rays with a concave mirror.
But with skies overcast, officials used a backup flame kindled
during a brief spell of sunshine at Monday’s rehearsal.
Greek rower Petros Gaidatzis launched the torch relay, which, after
reaching Italy, will be carried across the host country by about
10,000 runners before the Feb. 6–22 competition.
The sun ultimately made an appearance over rain-soaked OIympia on
Wednesday during the indoor ceremony. “It’s incredibly memorable and
a little bit emotional for me to be standing here,” said IOC
President Kirsty Coventry, who was overseeing her first torch
lighting after being elected to the post in March. “It feels like
the past and the present are really coming together. We are
extremely happy that today’s ceremony reminds us what the games
stand for.”
Italy is hosting its third Winter Games, but preparations have been
plagued by cost overruns and construction setbacks.
Organizers say there’s plenty for fans to look forward to: a program
featuring 116 medal events, the debut of ski mountaineering, higher
female participation and the return of NHL players to Olympic
hockey.
After a short tour of Greece and a handover on Dec. 4, the flame
will begin a 63-day, 12,000-kilometer relay through all 110 Italian
provinces, highlighting cultural sites and host venues before
reaching Milan’s San Siro Stadium for the opening ceremony.
“Over the next few weeks, the Olympic flame will pass through all
the Italian provinces, 60 cities, 300 towns, 20 regions and all the
UNESCO sites. It will travel from the northern peaks to the southern
shores,” said Giovanni Malago, head of the Milan Cortina Organizing
Committee. Speakers at Wednesday's ceremony urged world leaders to
recognize the spirit of the Olympic Truce – an ancient Greek
tradition pausing conflicts during the games to allow safe
participation.
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Greek rower Petros Gaidatzis, right, and former Italy's Cross
Country skier Stefania Belmondo start the torch relay after the
ceremony of the flame lighting for the Milan Cortina 2026 Winter
Olympics, at the archaeological museum of Olympia, Greece,
Wednesday, Nov. 26, 2025. (AP Photo/Petros Giannakouris)
“Today humanity is going through a time of multiple
and parallel crises. Wars proliferate from Europe to the Middle East
and from Asia to Africa. So we should honestly admit that a society
at war is a failed society,” the mayor of Ancient Olympia, Aristidis
Panayiotopoulos, said. “The flame allows us to again recall the
values that guide humanity, values that were born and forged here.”
Despite moving indoors, Wednesday’s ceremony retained its
traditional elements: sculptural dance gestures by performers
dressed as priestesses and male kouroi, and invocations in Greek to
the ancient gods.
Artemis Ignatiou, the ceremony’s artistic director, said the team
had prepared for the possibility of bad weather and that, despite
the setback, “we gained something special: the energy of the museum
and the archaeological space itself.”
Speaking to The Associated Press, Ignatiou said dancing among the
statues “gave the ceremony a timeless feeling.”
A separate flame for the March 6–15 Winter Paralympics will be lit
Feb. 24 at Stoke Mandeville Hospital in England, the birthplace of
the Paralympic movement.
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