2026 Winter Olympics flame handed to Milan-Cortina organizers

Hellenic Olympic Committee President Isidoros Kouvelos, bottom left, gives the torch to Milano Cortina Organizing Committee President Giovanni Malago, bottom right, during the Olympic flame handover ceremony at a stadium in Athens, Greece, Thursday, Thursday. AP-Yonhap

ATHENS — The flame for the 2026 Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics was handed to the host city organizers on Thursday in an Athens ceremony for a two-month torch relay in Italy before the Games open on February 6.

"Today marks a magical moment for all of us," Giovanni Malago, president of the Milan-Cortina organizing committee, said at the Panathenaic Stadium, where the first modern Olympics were revived in 1896.

A storm forecast forced Greek organizers to shorten the ceremony and cancel the planned attendance of thousands of schoolchildren.

Similar changes were necessary on November 26 in ancient Olympia, birthplace of the Games in 776 BC, where a backup flame was used for the official lighting ceremony.

Following a nine-day torch relay around Greece, the flame was kept the previous night at the Acropolis in Athens.

It heads to Rome on Thursday for a 63-day, 12,000-kilometer course through Italy's major cities, the Colosseum in Rome and the archaeological site of Pompeii.

The Winter Olympics take place from February 6 to 22 with the Paralympic Winter Games following from March 6 to 15.

As with many past Olympics, Athens 2004 among them, the Games are experiencing some delays to the construction of venues.

A leading International Ski Federation (FIS) official this week said the body was concerned about delays at the site for the snowboarding and freestyle skiing events.

The International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) and National Hockey League (NHL) have also expressed concerns about delays in the construction of the Games' main ice hockey arena.

Local organizers insist the venues will be ready in time.