Ancient Olympia Holds Rehearsal For Lighting Ceremony

A dress rehearsal for the Olympic flame lighting of the 2026 Milan-Cortina Winter Games was held Tuesday in Ancient Olympia, moved indoors due to heavy rain.

The rehearsal took place inside the Archaeological Museum adjacent to the historic site where the flame is traditionally ignited. The flame used in Tuesday’s run-through had been prepared the day before during an emergency outdoor rehearsal at the 2,500-year-old Temple of Hera near the ancient stadium.

Greek actress Mary Mina, portraying the High Priestess, used a concave mirror to focus sunlight and ignite the flame during Monday’s outdoor rehearsal. Following a choreographed performance inspired by ancient Greek tradition, she handed the flame and an olive branch to Petros Gkaidatzis, Greece’s Olympic bronze medalist in rowing at Paris 2024. Gkaidatzis began the relay Tuesday from the museum amid persistent rain.

Organizers confirmed that the backup flame will also be used during Wednesday’s official ceremony, which will again be held indoors due to poor weather.

Artemis Ignatiou, choreographer of the lighting and handover ceremonies, noted that moving the ritual indoors is not unprecedented—the flame for the 1968 Grenoble Winter Olympics was also ignited inside a museum. She praised her team for adapting quickly, saying the symbolism of the ceremony remains intact.

“Above all, it is the Olympic ideal that unites Ancient Olympia, Greece, and the entire world, sending a message of peace at a time when the call for truce is urgently needed,” Ignatiou said.

Following Wednesday’s ceremony, the torch relay will commence, highlighted by the release of a pigeon symbolizing peace. The flame will travel 2,200 kilometres across Greece before being handed over to Italy at Athens’ Panathenaic Stadium on December 4.

(Source: Xinhua)