Youth Olympic flame to travel across Argentina

The flame of the III Summer Youth Olympic Games, to be held in Buenos Aires from 6 to 18 October 2018, will be lit using the sun’s rays in Athens on 24 July. It will be delivered to the capital of Argentina the next day, the organizing Committee announced.

The ceremony of lighting the Olympic flame will be held at the Panathinaikos stadium, Athens, built of white marble in 329 BC. In ancient times, the arena was the venue for Panathenian Games dedicated to the patroness of the city, the priestess Athena. In the middle of the XIX century the stadium was restored. It hosted the first Olympic Games in modern history in 1896. And during the 2004 Olympic Games it hosted Archery competitions.

As reported in the press release of the Summer Youth Olympic Games Organizing Committee, on arrival in Argentina, the Olympic flame will travel along a number of cities in the province of Buenos Aires. The torch relay officially starts on August 5 in La Plata, the administrative center of the province of Buenos Aires. The Olympic flame will cover  14 thousand kilometers in 60 days. On October 6 it will arrive to the center of Buenos Aires, the Obelisk of Buenos Aires, commemorating the 400th anniversary of the city founding.

It is there, outside the stadium,  the opening ceremony will be held. This is an innovation. Until now, such ceremonies have been held in sports arenas.