Paris 2024 torch lit in ancient Olympia, relay under way

The Olympic flame that will be burning for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games started its journey after being ignited at the birthplace of the Games in Ancient Olympia, Greece on Tuesday during a traditional ceremony.

Greek actress Mary Mina (front R), in the role of the High Priestess, passes the flame to the first torch bearer, Greek rowing Olympic champion Stefanos Ntouskos (front L) during the Olympic flame lighting ceremony for the Paris 2024 Summer Olympic Games in Ancient Olympia, Greece, on April 16, 2024. (Xinhua/Zhao Dingzhe)

Actress Mary Mina, in the role of an ancient Greek High Priestess, lit the torch using a backup flame instead of a concave mirror due to cloudy skies before the 2,500-year-old Temple of Hera, a goddess in ancient Greek mythology.

Escorted by dozens of female and male dancers playing the roles of priestesses and male youth in pleated costumes, the flame was transported in a replica of an ancient urn to the stadium where the Olympic Games were born, under the rhythm of an ancient Greek type Lyra and percussions.

Following a dance performance by the artists inspired by ancient Greek statues on the slope of the stadium, the High Priestess kindled the first Olympic torch for the Games and passed it to the first torchbearer, Greek rowing gold medalist Stefanos Ntouskos, along with an olive branch.

In parallel, a dancer released a white pigeon to spread the Olympic ideals of friendship and peace to the world as the flame's journey started.

Approximately 600 torchbearers will carry the Olympic flame over some 5,000km across Greece, passing through dozens of cities and archaeological sites, according to the Hellenic Olympic Committee.

The flame will be handed over to the Paris 2024 organizers on April 26 at the Panathenaic Stadium in Athens, the venue of the first modern Olympics in 1896.

The following day, it will board Belem, a French three-masted vessel that was launched in 1896, on Piraeus port.

The Paris Olympics will be held from July 26 to August 11.