In a ceremony held amid the ruins of ancient Olympia, the birthplace of the Games 2,800 years ago, the flame was kindled by performers dressed as priestesses, though this year because of weather conditions the torch was not ignited as usual in a parabolic mirror – which focuses the sun’s rays – but from a flame. The flame was then handed to the first of hundreds of torchbearers who will carry it on an 11-day journey around Greece. This year, that honour fell to the country’s Olympic gold medallist and rowing champion Stefanos Douskos. IOC president Thomas Bach also addressed the crowd, relaying a message of unity in a time when war is raging saying ‘it is possible to compete fiercely against each other and at the same time live peacefully together’
‘A message of peace’: Olympic flame begins its journey to Paris
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