ANCIENT OLYMPIA, Greece, April 16 (Xinhua) -- 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.
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.
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. ■