The Olympic Flame is now in French hands
Paris 2024 President Tony Estanguet has pledged “to organise spectacular Games, but also Games that are more responsible, and that will contribute to a more inclusive society,” as he formally received the Olympic Flame after a memorable Ceremony […]
A Flame on the Ocean Wave
The historic three masted sailing ship Belem is ready and waiting at the port of Piraeus to convey the Olympic Flame from here for Marseille on a voyage Paris 2024 organisers have predicted will be reminiscent of a “true Homeric epic.” The ship was first commissioned […]
Pass the Flame, Unite the World
The Olympic Flame is to be formally handed over to Paris at an evening Ceremony in Athens after its ten-day journey across Greece. The appearance of Nana Mouskouri to sing “La Marseillaise” and the Greek National Anthem is keenly awaited even though Mouskouri is to celebrate […]
Echoes of the Torch Relay
The Olympic Torch Relay provided another echo of the 2004 Games as it arrived in Alexandroupolis when Javelin thrower Kostas Gatsioudis lit a temporary Cauldron. Twenty years ago, he was the first runner to set in motion the Athens 2004 Torch Relay at Ancient Olympia. […]
Flame to Return to Corfu
The Olympic Flame is scheduled to return to Corfu on Wednesday, over 75 years after its first visit to the island en route for the 1948 London Games. Civil strife in Greece had made it impossible to take the Flame to Athens for the formal handover. Former Royal Navy Commander Bill […]
The Olympic Flame of Thessaloniki
The Olympic Flame reached Thessaloniki in the North of Greece, where Tasoula Kelesidou, double Olympic silver medallist in the women’s discus stood alongside Thessaloniki Mayor Stelios Angeloudis to ignite the cauldron on the beach. In the gathering dusk, the Relay had passed beneath […]
Crowds welcome the Flame
A huge weekend crowd has welcomed the Olympic Flame to the port of Volos where the cauldron was lit by double Olympic rowing medallist Vasilios Polymeros. He won bronze at Athens 2004 in men’s lightweight double sculls and was also silver medallist at Beijing 2008. […]
Kaklamanakis Carries the Flame
The Olympic Flame returned briefly to Athens recalling memories of the Games twenty years ago when windsurfer Nikos Kaklamanakis lit the Olympic Flame. In the shadow of the stadium where the Ceremony had taken place, Kaklamanakis lit a much smaller cauldron in […]
Freedom of Olympia Awards
Ancient Olympia has conferred its greatest award on two legendary Olympic Champions to mark the 2800th anniversary of the first recorded Olympic Games of ancient times. Ioannis Melissanidis won gold in the men’s floor exercise at the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta. “It is an extra honour […]
IOA Students Join Torch Relay
Students from the International Olympic Academy (IOA) Masters in Olympic Studies programme have taken the Paris 2024 Olympic Torch Relay. They were visibly moved as they joined IOA Dean and ISOH Committee member Kostas Georgiadis for a leg of the Relay in the town of Zacharo […]