Paris 2024: The Olympic flame will be lit in Greece, the birthplace of the ancient sport.

ANCIENT OLYMPIA, Greece (AP) — Even without Apollo's help, the flames blazed there. paris olympics It was lit on Tuesday at an ancient stadium in southern Greece.

cloudy sky hindered traditional lightinga scene in which an actress dressed as an ancient Greek priestess uses the sun to ignite a silver torch after offering a symbolic prayer to Apollo, the ancient Greek sun god.

Instead, she used a backup flame that was lit in the same location during Monday's final rehearsal.

Usually the first person in the group is Shrine maidens wearing long pleated dresses A torch filled with fuel is immersed in a parabolic mirror that focuses the sun's rays, creating a flame.

But this time she didn't even try it and went straight to the spare flame kept in a copy of an ancient Greek vase. Ironically, a few minutes later the sun was shining.

A relay of torchbearers from the ancient stadium in Olympia will travel along a 5,000-kilometre (3,100-mile) route through Greece, including several islands, until the torch is handed over to Paris organizers in Athens on April 26. carry the torch.

International Olympic Committee President Thomas Bach said the torch-lighting combined “a pilgrimage to the past of ancient Olympia and an act of faith in the future.”

“In these difficult times… wars and conflicts are on the rise and people are tired of all the hate, aggression and negative news,” he said. “We long for something that connects us. Something that unifies. Something that gives us hope.”

Surrounded by ruined temples and athletic fields, where ancient games were held from 776 BC to 393 AD, Olympia was packed with thousands of spectators from around the world for Tuesday's event.

Set in a lush valley near the confluence of two rivers, this expansive property is at its most beautiful in spring, when pink-flowering judas trees, tiny blue irises, and the occasional red anemone bloom.

Greek authorities maintained a high alert around Olympia on Tuesday after the lighting ceremonies for the Beijing Summer and Winter Games were suspended due to protests by rights activists. Armed police stopped incoming vehicles to search for explosives, and sniffer dogs combed the premises.

The first torchbearer was Greek rower Stefanos Daouskos, a gold medalist at the 2021 Tokyo Olympics. He ran to a nearby monument. His heart was contained there. French Baron Pierre de Coubertinhas been the driving force behind the game's modern resurgence.

The next runner was French swimmer Laure Manadou, who won three medals in Athens in 2004. She was succeeded by Margaritis Schinas, a Greek senior European Union official.

IOC President Thomas Bach praised the Paris organizing committee for a “great job”. preparation For games from July 26th to August 11th.

He also highlighted the environmental impact, saying: Cleaning activities For the first time in 100 years, it will be possible to swim in the Seine River, which flows through Paris.

IOC politics briefly reared its ugly head in Olympia, too, with the heads of two sports federations last week criticizing track and field leader Sebastian Coe for breaking with Olympic tradition. promising prize money Paris gold medalists will each receive $50,000. This funding comes from a portion of the Olympic Games revenues that the IOC pays to the governing bodies of the Olympic Games.

International Cycling Union president David Lapartient complained that Coe did not consult other sports before announcing his transfer.

“We truly believe that is not the spirit of the Olympics,” Lapartient said. “If we focus our funds only on top athletes and only on gold medals, we will naturally lose many opportunities for athletes around the world.”

Coe is widely expected to run for the vacant IOC president position in 2025. Mr. Lapartiente is close to Mr. Bach and is increasingly seen as a possible successor.

The torch from Greece was delivered from the port of Piraeus in Athens. belema French three-masted sailing ship built in 1896, when the first modern games were held in Athens.

It is scheduled for May 8 at the port of Marseille in southern France, a city founded by Greek settlers some 2,600 years ago, Captain Aymeric Gibe said.

The Belen arrived in Katakolo, near Olympia, on Monday. The observers also included a small group of enthusiastic tourists waving French and Breton flags from the northwest French region of Brittany, where the ship's home port of Nantes is located.

Jean-Michel Pasquet, from Lorient near Nantes, said: “I thought it was a unique opportunity to see the torch lit at the historic site of Olympia.'' “And when we found out that Belen would carry the torch, we said we had to do it.”

But Paske said he would have to watch the Paris Games from home.

“For us, going to the venue is very expensive and unaffordable,” he said. “So we watch them on TV from our armchairs.”

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Graham Dunbar in Geneva, Switzerland, and Theodora Tongass in Ancient Olympia contributed.

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