ANCIENT OLYMPIA, Greece: At a temple in Ancient Olympia, a flame is drawn from the sun to begin its journey to the Winter Games. The choreographed ceremony inspired by ancient Greece is designed to link the original games to today’s global competition.
On Wednesday, the flame will be kindled once more for the Milan Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics. From Olympia — birthplace of the ancient games — to Milan’s San Siro Stadium on Feb. 6, the torch will cross Italy’s cities, and cultural landmarks, carried by thousands of relay runners.
Here’s a look at how the ceremony unfolds, the challenges it faces, and where both the Olympic and Paralympic flames will travel in the months ahead.
It’s all about the weather
The first modern Olympic Games were held in Athens in 1896 but the flame was introduced later and only standardized in the 1930s using a method that hasn’t changed since. A concave mirror concentrates sunlight onto the tip of a torch, producing a flame that represents purity and continuity with the Games’ ancient roots.
The main challenge is the weather: No direct sunlight, no flame. Cloudy skies have forced organizers in the past to rely on a backup, a pre-lit flame produced during rehearsals. Copies of the flame are kept handy in a lantern throughout its journey so torches that occasionally go out mid-relay can be discreetly relit.
Protests staged by activists have disrupted past relays, notably ahead of the Beijing Olympics, prompting tighter security. Torch relays after the 2008 Games were limited to Greece and the host country.
A high priestesses and help from Apollo
Central to the lighting ceremony is a meticulously choreographed performance led by the actors and dancers playing the role of a high priestess and her ensemble of priestesses and male kouroi.
The selection of the performers, their costumes and choreography are all inspired by the ancient aesthetic. Practicing for weeks, performers learn to coordinate precise gestures, sculptural poses, and synchronized movements across Ancient Olympia’s uneven ground.
At the culmination of the ceremony, the high priestess calls for a moment of “sacred silence” before the torch is lit. In Greek, she recites an invocation to the ancient gods: “Apollo, god of sun and the idea of light, send your rays and light the sacred torch for the hospitable cities of Milan and Cortina. And you Zeus give peace to all peoples on earth and wreath the winners of the sacred race.”
10,000 torchbearers ready for Italian tour
The flame is carried by a torch relay to the host city, occasionally making a spectacular detour: It’s been taken undersea, beamed into space, and guided to the summit of Mount Everest.
The time, it will tour Greece for a week and spend the night at the Acropolis in Athens before a handover ceremony to Winter Games organizers on Dec. 4 and embarking on an Italian adventure.
Starting in Rome, the 63-day Italian relay will stretch across 12,000 kilometers, pass through 60 cities, cross all 110 provinces, and put a spotlight on dozens of world heritage sites.
Approximately 10,000 torchbearers will participate, leading up to the opening ceremony of the Feb. 6-22 games at San Siro stadium in Milan.
Every Olympics gets its own torch for the relay. The sleek “Essenziale” was crafted in Italy to promote sustainability. Powered by renewable gas, it is built using recycled aluminum and features a bio-based polymer handle.
Wait. There’s another flame?
Parallel to the Olympic journey, the Paralympic flame will begin its own on Feb. 24, 2026 for the March 6-15 Winter Paralympics.
It will be lit at Stoke Mandeville Hospital in England — birthplace of the Paralympic movement. That’s where the first wheelchair athletes’ competition was organized after World War II, an event that inspired the first Paralympic Games held in Rome in 1960.
Over 11 days, the Paralympic flame will cover 2,000 kilometers and will eventually be united with fire produced as Flame Festivals planned in several Italian cities before the opening ceremony at Verona Arena on March 6.
Praying for the sun: What to know about the flame-lighting ceremony for the Winter Olympics
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Praying for the sun: What to know about the flame-lighting ceremony for the Winter Olympics
- On Wednesday, the flame will be kindled once more for the Milan Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics
- From Olympia — birthplace of the ancient games — to Milan’s San Siro Stadium on Feb. 6
Not Italy’s Devil’s Island: Sardinia bristles at mafia inmate plan
- A third of top-risk mafia prisoners could go to Sardinia
- Officials say clans may follow relatives and infiltrate economy
NUORO: In Nuoro, a remote city on the Italian island of Sardinia, a high stone wall rings the local prison, a fortress-like complex once renowned for holding high-profile mobsters and convicted terrorists far from the mainland.
Only a handful of top mafiosi remain detained there and Sardinia is no longer seen as a dumping ground for criminals, instead building an international reputation around tourism.
But that could change under a plan of Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s government which has alarmed residents. In December, a justice undersecretary said about 750 prisoners held under the rigid “41bis” regime would be concentrated in just a few dedicated facilities across Italy, overseen by special guard units to improve security.
Sardinia has been told it may get nearly a third of them, split between Sassari in the north, already housing about 90, the capital Cagliari, where around 90 are due to arrive this month, and Nuoro — reviving old stigma concerns.
“Sardinia does not deserve to be seen as Italy’s Cayenne,” said Governor Alessandra Todde, invoking the notorious former French Guiana penal colony on Devil’s Island.
Worries of Mafia infiltration
Italy’s 41bis regime, named after the law that regulates it, is among the most restrictive in Europe. Introduced in 1992 after the murder of anti-mafia judge Giovanni Falcone, it imposes near-total isolation on prisoners and was designed to stop bosses running their operations from behind bars.
The law says it should “preferably” be enforced on Italy’s islands. The late boss of the Sicilian mafia, Salvatore “Toto” Riina, was among those once held in Sardinia.
Locals and authorities fear the government plan could prompt mafia clans to move from mainland Italy to be near jailed relatives, creating opportunities to launder illicit money and infiltrate business, particularly in less developed areas, such as Nuoro, a city of 30,000 people.
Silvio Lai, a Sardinian lawmaker with the opposition Democratic Party, visited the city prison last month and said renovation work was already ongoing, potentially making room for at least 30 new maximum-security inmates.
“Weak economies can be infiltrated easily, and Nuoro is about an hour’s drive from the Costa Smeralda,” Lai said, suggesting a mafia foothold in the city could swiftly spread to the island’s luxurious tourist resort.
The Justice Ministry did not respond to a request to comment on the work.
Improving national security
Autonomous mafia groups have never emerged in sparsely populated Sardinia, but magistrates say investigations have been opened into alleged clan penetration in the north of the island, possibly encouraged by the presence of detained mobsters.
“Prosecutors are keeping a close watch on the phenomenon of Camorra (a mafia group based around Naples) investments... especially in the tourism, hospitality and restaurant sectors,” said Cagliari chief prosecutor Luigi Patronaggio.
At a December meeting with regional officials, Justice Undersecretary Andrea Delmastro Delle Vedove downplayed the risk of a mass move to Sardinia, minutes show, arguing that families of 41bis detainees do not typically leave clan-controlled areas.
“This (plan) will ensure greater national security... will make individual prisons safer because only specialized prison guard units will be deployed,” Delmastro said.
However, Maria Cristina Ornano, head of the sentence enforcement tribunal in Cagliari, said police and the judiciary will need increased security resources if more mobsters arrive.
“Once organized crime takes root here, we will not be able to get rid of it. We can see it in parts of southern Italy, which are among the most
