ANCIENT OLYMPIA /Greece/, November 26. /TASS/. The Lighting Ceremony of the Olympic Flame for the 2026 Winter Games in Italy has started at the Archaeological Museum of Ancient Olympia in Greece, a TASS correspondent reports from the scene.

The ceremony is attended by President of Greece Konstantinos Tasoulas, International Olympic Committee (IOC) President Kirsty Coventry, IOC Honorary President Thomas Bach, President of the Hellenic Olympic Committee Isidoros Kouvelos, President of the Milano Cortina Organizing Committee Giovanni Malago, IOC Member Spyros Capralos, Deputy Minister of Sports Giannis Vroutsis, Mayor of Ancient Olympia Aristidis Panayiotopoulos and other officials.

This year, due to poor weather conditions the ceremony was moved for the first time from the open air to the Archaeological Museum. As a rule, actresses dressed as Greek priestesses perform the ceremony. An actress dressed as an ancient Greek High Priestess sets a torch on fire, which is kindled by the light of the Sun, its rays concentrated by a parabolic mirror. Today, however, the torch will be lit by the fire collected with the use of the parabolic mirror during the dress rehearsal on Monday, November 24.

The 2026 Winter Olympic Games will be held in Italy, in the cities of Milan and Cortina d'Ampezzo. The event will take place on February 6-22, 2026.