Olympic Flame

The Olympic Flame that will be burning for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games started its journey after being ignited at the birthplace of the Games in Ancient Olympia, on Tuesday during a traditional lighting ceremony.

The sacred flame for the Paris 2024 Olympics is to be lit Tuesday in ancient Olympia, birthplace of the ancient Games, for an epic torch relay stretching from the Acropolis to the South Pacific.

Activists today called for the postponement of the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics as China prepared to receive the Olympic flame, a day after a protest disrupted the lighting ceremony in Olympia.

Activists unfurled a Tibetan flag and a banner that said "no genocide" at the flame-lighting ceremony for the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics in Greece on Monday.

The Olympic flame will once again be lit in an empty stadium on Monday as it starts its truncated journey to Beijing for the Winter Games in February.

The Olympic flame for the 2020 Tokyo Games was also lit in a ceremony in Ancient Olympia without spectators because of fears over coronavirus.

Two weeks before the Tokyo Games opening ceremony, the flame was brought on stage in a lantern and handed to Tokyo Governor Yuriko Koike.

The Olympic torch relay due to begin on July 9 in Tokyo will mostly be displayed at closed ceremonies for the first eight days of its time in the Japanese capital, in line with virus countermeasures

Spectators will be allowed to watch the flame pass, but will be required to wear masks, avoid crowding and only attend segments of the torch relay near their home.

The Olympic flame had been on public display in the northeastern Fukushima region since last week, but Japanese Olympic organisers decided to shelve it as coronavirus cases climb in the country.

Reflecting the uncertainty caused by COVID-19, the flame's arrival in Japan was a muted affair after organisers were forced to cancel plans to invite 200 schoolchildren.

The Olympic flame landed on a special charter flight into Matsushima Air Base in the Japanese province of Miyagi.

In the absence of spectators, Olympic gymnastics champion Lefteris Petrounias ran a lap with the flame and Olympic pole vault champion Katerina Stefanidi lit a cauldron inside the all-marble Panathenaic stadium, where the first modern Olympics were held in 1896.

Welcome and departure ceremonies for the Olympic flame along the relay route will be scrapped, organisers said in a statement.

With the coronavirus causing a tsunami effect in world sport, doubts are increasingly being raised over whether the Olympics can be held as scheduled from July 24 to August 9.

The Olympic Flame that will be burning for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games started its journey after being ignited at the birthplace of the Games in Ancient Olympia, on Tuesday during a traditional lighting ceremony.

The sacred flame for the Paris 2024 Olympics is to be lit Tuesday in ancient Olympia, birthplace of the ancient Games, for an epic torch relay stretching from the Acropolis to the South Pacific.

Activists today called for the postponement of the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics as China prepared to receive the Olympic flame, a day after a protest disrupted the lighting ceremony in Olympia.

Activists unfurled a Tibetan flag and a banner that said "no genocide" at the flame-lighting ceremony for the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics in Greece on Monday.

The Olympic flame will once again be lit in an empty stadium on Monday as it starts its truncated journey to Beijing for the Winter Games in February.

The Olympic flame for the 2020 Tokyo Games was also lit in a ceremony in Ancient Olympia without spectators because of fears over coronavirus.

Two weeks before the Tokyo Games opening ceremony, the flame was brought on stage in a lantern and handed to Tokyo Governor Yuriko Koike.

The Olympic torch relay due to begin on July 9 in Tokyo will mostly be displayed at closed ceremonies for the first eight days of its time in the Japanese capital, in line with virus countermeasures

Spectators will be allowed to watch the flame pass, but will be required to wear masks, avoid crowding and only attend segments of the torch relay near their home.

The Olympic flame had been on public display in the northeastern Fukushima region since last week, but Japanese Olympic organisers decided to shelve it as coronavirus cases climb in the country.

Reflecting the uncertainty caused by COVID-19, the flame's arrival in Japan was a muted affair after organisers were forced to cancel plans to invite 200 schoolchildren.

The Olympic flame landed on a special charter flight into Matsushima Air Base in the Japanese province of Miyagi.

In the absence of spectators, Olympic gymnastics champion Lefteris Petrounias ran a lap with the flame and Olympic pole vault champion Katerina Stefanidi lit a cauldron inside the all-marble Panathenaic stadium, where the first modern Olympics were held in 1896.

Welcome and departure ceremonies for the Olympic flame along the relay route will be scrapped, organisers said in a statement.

With the coronavirus causing a tsunami effect in world sport, doubts are increasingly being raised over whether the Olympics can be held as scheduled from July 24 to August 9.