The Olympic Flame of Thessaloniki

Olympic Flame lit under the Umbrellas of Thessaloniki

by Philip Barker in Athens

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 the statue of Alexander the Great before the cauldron was lit under “The Umbrellas” a work by sculptor Giorgios Zoggolopoulos.

Earlier in the day Efthimis Renzias, a member of the Greek basketball team at the 1996 Atlanta Games had lit the Flame in Kalambaka.

In Toumba, Artyom Kouregian, Greco-Roman featherweight bronze medallist from 20 years ago at the Athens Olympics, also took the Flame.

There was another opportunity to carry the Flame for 1992 women’s 100m hurdles champion Voula Patalidou. In 1996 she had borne the Flame at both the Athens stadium and at the Opening Ceremony in Atlanta.

There followed a special moment when former pole vault world record holder Christos Papanikolaou lit the temporary cauldron on the Asklepios Bridge in Trikala.

Papanikolaou won silver at the 1966 European Championships in Budapest. He competed at three Olympics and carried the Greek flag at the 1968 Games in Mexico, where he finished fourth. He was   selected as flag bearer again for the 1972 Games in Munich.

Now 82, he received an enthusiastic welcome from the crowds when he received the Flame from Greek Athletics Federation (SEGAS) President Sofia Sakorafa, herself a European bronze medallist in javelin at the 1982 European Championships held in Athens.