The sacred flame for the 2026 Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics in Italy will be lit in ancient Olympia, Greece on Wednesday, with poor weather forcing last-minute changes by the organizers.
The ceremony to light the Olympic flame is usually held at the ruins of the 2,600-year-old Temple of Hera, near the stadium where the Olympics were born in 776 BC.
But a rainy weather forecast means the sun's rays will not be able to light the parabolic mirror used by actresses in the garb of ancient priestesses.
Organizers have instead moved the ceremony at the Olympia archaeological museum, where one of Greece's most famous classical sculptures, Hermes and the Infant Dionysus by Praxiteles, is housed, AFP reported.
Greece's rowing bronze medalist at the 2024 Paris Olympics, Petros Gaidatzis, has been selected to be the first torchbearer to launch the Greek leg of the Olympic flame relay.
The original pick, Greek-American alpine ski racer AJ Ginnis, was injured during training last week.
According to the organizers, former Italian cross-country ski champion Stefania Belmondo and luge legend Armin Zoeggeler will be among the first torchbearers on the Greek leg of the relay.
Following a December 4 handover ceremony at the Panathenaic Stadium in Athens, where the first modern Olympics were revived in 1896, the flame heads to Rome for a 63-day, 12,000-kilometer (7,500-mile) course through Italy's major cities and the archaeological site of Pompeii.
Held February 6-22, the 2026 Winter Games take place in Italy for the third time, and the first time in western Europe since the Turin Games in 2006.
The Paralympic Winter Games will be held March 6-15.
The events will span a vast area from Milan to the Dolomite mountains in Italy's north-east.
Ice sports will be held in Milan while Bormio and Cortina host alpine skiing.
Across the Dolomites the biathlon will be in Anterselva and Nordic skiing in Val di Fiemme, with Livigno in the Italian Alps hosting snowboarding and freestyle skiing.
