Ancient Olympia hosted an emergency rehearsal on Monday to light the flame for the 2026 Milan Cortina Winter Games, capitalising on a brief respite in Greece’s stormy weather.
With heavy cloud cover predicted for Wednesday’s official lighting ceremony, the flame ignited during the rehearsal will be preserved as a backup.
An actress, embodying an ancient high priestess, employed a concave mirror to focus the sun’s rays onto a torch.
The ignition took just seven seconds, maintaining a 2,800-year-old tradition, free from artificial aids.
The ritual, which included a theatrical invocation of Apollo, the ancient god of light, underscores the reliance on natural elements.
However, the success of this ancient method hinges on simple, unforgiving physics: direct sunlight must be focused by the mirror to achieve the necessary ignition temperature.
Organisers had meticulously tracked weather patterns for several days, collaborating with the Greek Meteorological Service to pinpoint a brief window of sunshine.
Jochen Farber, head of the Olympic Channel’s office in Lausanne, Switzerland, confirmed that updates were relayed every two hours.
"The weather forecast is based on mathematical algorithms. There are about 25 to 30 different models used to calculate predictions based on available data," Farber told The Associated Press.
"The weather team also constantly compares the forecasts against actual outcomes. And that’s what guided our decision."
Located 320 kilometres southwest of Athens, Olympia holds sacred significance for the ancient Greeks and now serves as the symbolic genesis for every Olympic competition, with the flame bridging the ancient festival and the modern games. A similar contingency plan was employed for the 2024 Paris Games.
Following a brief tour of Greece, this year’s flame will commence a 63-day, 12,000-kilometre relay across all 110 Italian provinces, culminating on 6 February at Milan’s San Siro Stadium.
The "Essenziale" torch, an Italian-designed creation crafted from recycled aluminium with a bio-based polymer grip and fuelled by renewable-source gas, will be carried by runners.
Scheduled from 6 to 22 February, the Milan Cortina Games mark Italy’s third Winter Olympics and the first to be jointly hosted by two cities.
The event will feature 116 medal events, introduce ski mountaineering, increased female participation, and see the return of NHL players to Olympic hockey.
