ATHENS, December 4. /TASS/. The Olympic flame for Milano Cortina 2026 was handed over to the organizing committee in a ceremony at the Panathenaic Stadium in Athens, a TASS correspondent reported.

The handover ceremony was attended by Hellenic Olympic Committee President Isidoros Kouvelos, President of the Organizing Committee for the 2026 Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games Giovanni Malago and other officials. While entry to the 45,000-capacity stadium was free, rainy weather put a damper on the events, with plans for large swaths of metropolitan area schoolchildren coming canceled last-minute.

The event marked the end of the Olympic torch’s journey through Greece which began in Olympia on November 26.

The Italian leg of the Olympic torch relay will kick off in Rome on Saturday, two months ahead of the opening ceremony for the 25th Winter Olympics. The Olympic flame will travel across Italy, with stops on the islands of Sardinia and Sicily and in the Cortina d’Ampezzo ski resort which will host part of the competitions.

Olympic Winter Games Milano Cortina 2026 will be held on February 6-22, with Russian athletes taking part as individual neutral athletes only.