Kindled by the rays of the sun and continuing a sacred tradition from the eighth century BC, the Olympic torch started its long journey to the Rio de Janeiro in ancient Olympia today.
A high priestess, played by actress Katerina Lehou, performed the simple ceremony under cloudless skies and symphony of bird song in front of the Temple of Hera.
She used a mirror called a skaphia to converge the rays onto one point while Greek gymnast Eleftherios Petrounias, who handed on to Brazil’s two-time volleyball Olympic champion Giovane Gávio, became the first of 10,000 torchbearers in the months ahead.
“Greece gave birth to the Olympics and this is the biggest honour that could happen to me – to be the first torch bearer and begin the spirit of the Games,” said Petrounias.
“I was driving when I heard and I almost crashed.”
The torch will make now make its way to the ancient Panathinaiko stadium in Athens that was used for the 1896 Games, the first of the modern era and will then travel by airplane to the UN headquarters in Geneva and International Olympic Committee museum in Lausanne.
Once in Brazil, the flame will visit every state in the country, a 95-day journey of over 12,500 miles to the opening ceremony at the Maracanã Stadium on August 5th.
- See more at: https://www.teamgb.com/news/olympic-torch-lit-in-greece-ahead-of-rio-olympic-games?#sthash.OmOTG9nc.dpuf
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