Greece prepares backup flame for Milan Olympics as weather threatens actual ceremony

(24 Nov 2025)
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++CLIENTS PLEASE NOTE ORGANIZERS IMPOSED AN EMBARGO ON VISUALS SHOWING THE TORCH ALIGHT UNTIL THE OFFICIAL CEREMONY ON WEDNESDAY++

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Ancient Olympia, Greece - 24 November 2025
1. Artemis Ignatiou, choreographer and artistic director of the lighting and handover ceremonies for the Olympic flame, as she beats the drum to start the rehearsal ahead of the flame lighting for the Milan Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics
2. Various of dancers performing role of priestesses walking through ruins
3. Various of actress Mary Mina playing the role of head priestess walking to call to God Apollo to send the sun’s rays to light torch; UPSOUND (Greek): "Apollo, God of the Sun and of the idea of light. Send your rays and kindle the sacred torch for the hospitable cities of Milan and Cortina, and you, Zeus, grant peace."
4. Mina walking to perform lighting of the flame
5. Ignatiou accompanied by child actors standing during the rehearsal
6. Various of dancers performing during the rehearsal
7. Wide of public watching the rehearsal
8. Various of dancers performing during the rehearsal
9. Mid of flags of Greece, Italy and International Olympic Committee

STORYLINE:
Even the gods need a backup plan.

Organizers in Ancient Olympia held an emergency rehearsal Monday to light the flame for the 2026 Milan Cortina Winter Games, seizing on a brief break in Greece’s stormy weather.

With heavy cloud cover forecast for Wednesday’s official lighting ceremony, the flame produced Monday will be kept as a backup.

An actress portraying an ancient high priestess used a concave mirror to concentrate the sun’s rays onto a torch. I took seven seconds to ignite the flame – without artificial means and preserving a tradition inspired by the original Olympic Games dating back 2,800 years.

The flame was lit following a theatrical invocation of Apollo, the ancient god of light. But success depends on simple, unforgiving physics: The mirror must focus direct sunlight to generate the searing temperature needed for ignition. Without it, the method fails.

Olympic organizers said they had been tracking the weather for days, supported by a team from the Greek Meteorological Service, to time the brief window of sun.

Updates were relayed every two hours, according to Jochen Farber, head of the Olympic Channel’s office in Lausanne, Switzerland.

“The weather forecast is based on mathematical algorithms. There are about 25 to 30 different models used to calculate predictions based on available data,” Farber told The Associated Press.

“The weather team also constantly compares the forecasts against actual outcomes,” he said. “And that’s what guided our decision.”

Olympia, 320 kilometers (200 miles) southwest of Athens, was considered sacred ground by the ancient Greeks. Today it serves as the symbolic starting point for every Olympic competition, the flame intended to link the ancient festival and the modern games.

Organizers also relied on a backup flame for the 2024 Paris Games. This year, after a brief tour of Greece, the flame will embark on a 63-day, 12,000-kilometer relay through all 110 Italian provinces before concluding Feb. 6 at Milan’s San Siro Stadium.

Runners will carry the “Essenziale,” a sleek Italian-designed torch made with recycled aluminum, fitted with a bio-based polymer grip and fueled by renewable-source gas.


AP video shot by Lefteris Pitarakis
Production: Lefteris Pitarakis, Derek Gatopoulos

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