On Thursday, December 4, 2025, the Olympic flame for the 2026 Milano Cortina Winter Games landed in Rome, marking Italy's first hosting of the flame since the 2006 Turin games. 🚀🔥
A compact bronze lantern carried the sacred flame aboard an ITA Airways flight from Athens, where it was ceremoniously handed over earlier in the historic Panathenaic Stadium. Tennis star Jasmine Paolini, women's doubles gold medalist at the 2024 Paris Summer Games, and Local Organizing Committee chief Giovanni Malago brought the flame off the plane. "I feel honored. It's an incredible emotion," Paolini said before the lantern was driven away to the presidential complex.
Today, December 5, a special cauldron-lighting ceremony at the Quirinale Palace, residence of President Sergio Mattarella, will welcome IOC President Kirsty Coventry. This Saturday, December 6, a 63-day torch relay kicks off from the statue-lined Stadio dei Marmi. Over 12,000 kilometers and 10,001 torchbearers will carry the flame through all 110 Italian provinces, from the Tyrrhenian coast to the snow-capped Dolomites, leading up to the February 6, 2026 opening ceremony at Milan's San Siro Stadium. 🏔️✨
From its ancient start in Athens to the heart of Italy, this epic journey reminds us why the Olympic flame shines as a symbol of unity, passion, and human spirit. Stay tuned as Italy lights up the road to Milano Cortina 2026! 🔥🎿
Reference(s):
Flame for 2026 Milano Cortina Winter Olympics makes arrival in Italy
cgtn.com
