NEW DELHI: The torch for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games was ignited in ancient Olympia during a customary ceremony on Tuesday, signaling the final phase of the seven-year preparations for the Games, set to commence on July 26.
Due to overcast conditions, Greek actress Mary Mina, portraying the high priestess, utilized a backup flame instead of a parabolic mirror to light the torch, initiating a relay that will traverse Greece and France.
"In these difficult times we are living through, with wars and conflicts on the rise, people are fed up with all the hate, the aggression and negative news they are facing day in and day out," International Olympic Committee (IOC) president Thomas Bach said in his speech.
"We are longing for something which brings us together, something that is unifying, something that gives us hope. The Olympic flame that we are lighting today is the symbol of this hope."
The flame will be formally presented to the Paris Games organizers at the Panathenaic stadium in Athens, the venue of the inaugural modern Games in 1896, on April 26 following an 11-day relay across Greece.
The following day, the flame will embark on a three-masted ship, the 'Belem', and arrive in Marseille on May 8, where up to 150,000 spectators are anticipated to attend the ceremony at the city's Old Port.
The French torch relay will span 68 days, culminating in Paris with the lighting of the Olympic flame on July 26.
(With inputs from Reuters)
