Paris Olympics flame to be lit at Games' birthplace in Olympia

A little over 100 days left before the opening ceremony of the 2024 Paris Olympics. Before that the Olympic flame, which will burn throughout the Paris Games, will be lit in the ancient Olympia on Tuesday for a torch relay stretching from the Acropolis to French Polynesia.

For the first time since the Covid-19 pandemic, which did not allow spectators to attend the programme ahead of the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, spectators will be able to attend the event.

600 dignitaries, including Greek President Katerina Sakellaropoulou and International Olympic Committee President Thomas Bach, will be present at this week's ceremony.

Following the rituals, actresses in the role of ancient priestesses coaxed the Olympic flame into life with the help of a parabolic polished mirror in Olympia, southwestern Greece, where the Games were born in 776 BC.

As per tradition, the ceremony will be conducted at the ruins of the 2,600-year-old Temple of Hera and sets off the Olympic torch relay that marks the countdown for each Games.

American Joyce DiDonato will deliver the Olympic anthem.

The torch harks back to the ancient Olympics when a sacred flame burned throughout the Games. The tradition was revived in 1936 for the Berlin Games.

The first relay runner will be Greece’s 2020 Olympics rowing champion Stefanos Douskos.