ROME, Dec 6 (Reuters) – The Olympic flame started its journey through Italy from Rome on Saturday, launching a two-month relay designed to stir excitement across the country ahead of the 2026 Winter Games.
After being lit last month in ancient Olympia, the Greek home of the ancient Games, and handed over to Italian Games organisers earlier this week, the torch set off from Rome’s historic Stadio dei Marmi on Saturday.
Inaugurated in 1932 as part of Italian dictator Benito Mussolini’s monumental sports city project, the stadium is encircled by 60 Carrara marble statues of athletes, each about 4 metres tall, donated by Italian cities during the Fascist era.
Italy’s Olympic medal-winning swimmer Gregorio Paltrinieri was the first torchbearer to carry the Olympic flame as it began its 12,000-km (7,450-mile) Italian journey.
He was followed by former foil fencer Elisa Di Francisca and gold medallist in the high jump Gianmarco Tamberi.
Accompanying the torch out of the Stadio dei Marmi was basketball player Achille Polonara, who is battling leukemia.
The torch will travel through all 110 Italian provinces and more than 300 municipalities, stopping in 60 cities for end-of-day celebrations before reaching Milan in time for the opening ceremony on February 6.
The Games will be co-hosted by Milan and the Dolomite resort of Cortina d’Ampezzo and run from February 6-22.
Unveiled in April, the Milano-Cortina torch features an aerodynamic silhouette inspired by the curves of the Dolomites and the dynamic lines of ski tracks. Crafted from recycled aluminium and steel, it reflects the Games’ sustainability goals.
About 10,001 torchbearers will carry the flame wearing white uniforms with a red and yellow pattern recalling the Olympic flame.
Italy, a winter sports powerhouse, last hosted the Winter Olympics in 2006 in Turin.
The flame will pass landmarks such as the Colosseum, the Vatican, Venice’s Grand Canal and Siena’s Piazza del Campo and spend Christmas in Naples.
It will be in Cortina d’Ampezzo on January 26, exactly 70 years after the opening ceremony of the 1956 Games at the same venue, before concluding at Milan’s San Siro stadium.
(Reporting by Giselda Vagnoni; Editing by Alex Richardson)
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