The Olympic flame for the XXV Winter Games in 2026, which will take place in Milan and Cortina d'Ampezzo, was handed over to the competition organizers during a ceremony in Athens, as reported by a TASS correspondent.
The flame relay, which started on November 26 in the birthplace of the Olympics, the ancient site of Olympia, concluded at the historic Panathenaic marble stadium in the Greek capital. The last Olympic altar at the arena was lit by Greek women's national water polo team player and 2024 Olympic champion, Eleni Xenaki. At the end of the ritual, the High Priestess, famous Greek actress Mary Mina, handed the torch with the Olympic flame to the head of the Hellenic Olympic Committee (HOC), Isidoros Kouvelos, who then presented it to representatives of the Milan-Cortina 2026 Organizing Committee.
The Italian leg of the relay, which will cover the entire territory of the country, including its islands, begins on December 6. The sacred flame will arrive at the Giuseppe Meazza (San Siro) stadium in Milan on February 6.
