Overview
- The formal lighting was staged indoors in Greece because of rain, using a flame created by sunlight at the Temple of Hera during a brief clear spell earlier in the week.
- Greek rower Petros Gaidatzis carried the torch first to launch the weeklong Greek leg, following the traditional rite led by actress Mary Mina as High Priestess.
- The flame will be handed to Italian organizers on December 4 at Athens’ Panathenaic Stadium before a 63‑day, roughly 12,000‑kilometer relay across Italy.
- The Italian route is set to span 20 regions and 110 provinces, visit dozens of cultural landmarks, and involve about 10,000 torchbearers on the way to Milan’s opening ceremony on February 6, 2026.
- IOC president Kirsty Coventry underscored the flame’s unifying message and the Olympic Truce; Italy’s third Winter Games will use dispersed venues, with a separate Paralympic flame to be lit on February 24 in Stoke Mandeville ahead of the March Paralympics.