Greece has officially unveiled new changes to the Olympic flame-lighting ceremony at Ancient Olympia, in Greece ahead of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.
The National Herald revealed some of the proposed changes include a new High Priestess, a composer, and redesigned costumes.
These changes to the ceremony were presented at the Hellenic Olympic Committee (HOC) on Tuesday, March 12.
During the Committee meeting, HOC thanked the sponsors and supporters of the Greek team, they presented the new High Priestess Mary Mina, and they revealed the new ceremonies’ composer Dimitris Papadimitriou.
The redesigned costumes feature new black-and-white robes which are expected to be worn by the priestesses. During the Committee meeting, six male and female athletes also modelled the new Team Greece outfits, which were inspired by ancient Greece and designed by Mary Katrantzou.
HOC President Spyros Capralos expressed his gratitude to the sponsors for supporting over 200 athletes ahead of the Olympics.
The ceremony, which will be led by High Priestess Mary Mina and composer Dimitris Papadimitriou, will commence on April 16. The High Priestess will be using a curved mirror to ignite the torch on the day.
During the meeting, the new High Priestess of the Olympic Flame Mary Mina said “This is big honour for me. I hope to live up to the trust you placed in me”.
“I am very lucky to now take the reins.”
The Torch Relay will span across 11 days in Greece, before being passed on to Paris organizers on April 26. It will total a 68-day journey until the Paris 2024 Olympics.
The Greek rower and Olympic medallist Stefanos Douskos is the first runner in the Torch Relay.
After the Olympic Flame is passed on to the Paris organisers, it will spend the night in the French Embassy, and then depart for France on the ‘Belem’ ship the next day.
Source: The National Herald.
