Greece’s Olympic committee said Thursday it has picked Rio de Janeiro shooting gold medalist Anna Korakaki as the first torchbearer for the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games, following the flame-lighting ceremony in Ancient Olympia on March 12.
This will be the first time a woman has been chosen to launch the torch relay for the Olympic Games at the birthplace of the ancient Olympics in Greece.
The carefully-choreographed ceremony is led by an actress posing as an ancient Greek priestess who lights the flame using a a bowl-shaped mirror to focus the heat of the sun’s rays on her torch. She will then pass it on to Korakaki.
The torch relay will course through Greece for a week before the flame is handed over to Tokyo organising officials at a ceremony in Athens. The last torchbearer will also be a woman — Greece’s Katerina Stefanidi who won the pole vault gold medal at Rio.
Greece’s national Olympic committee president Spyros Capralos said Korakaki’s selection was a “historic” moment.
Sourced by: AP News
