“The Olympic torch relay is the second when the Video games enter peoples’ houses, spreading the magic of winter sports activities throughout Italy,” mentioned Video games CEO Andrea Varnier.
VERONA, Italy — The Olympic flame for the 2026 Milan-Cortina Video games will go via all 110 provinces in Italy on a 63-day journey earlier than the cauldron is lit.
Organizers introduced the route for the torch relay on Tuesday at a palace going through the historic Verona Area, the big Roman amphitheater that can host the closing ceremony of the 2026 Winter Games in addition to the opening of the Paralympics.
The presentation of the 12,000-kilometer (7,455-mile) route came about precisely a 12 months earlier than the flame will likely be lit in Historic Olympia, Greece.
“The Olympic torch relay is the second when the Video games enter peoples’ houses, spreading the magic of winter sports activities throughout Italy,” Milan-Cortina CEO Andrea Varnier mentioned.
“This is essential … it’s the one mission that actually takes the Olympics in entrance of thousands and thousands of individuals’s homes.”
The flame will arrive in Rome on Dec. 4 and can start its journey throughout Italy two days later.
A complete of 10,001 folks will take part within the torch relay. The flame will journey via Tuscany earlier than going throughout to the islands of Sardinia after which Sicily — by sea — and returning to the Italian mainland on Dec. 19.
The torch relay, which incorporates 60 metropolis celebrations, will likely be in Naples for Christmas and in Bari for New Yr’s Eve. It can then journey up the japanese aspect of Italy and throughout to the north-west, reaching Torino — the positioning of Italy’s final Olympic Video games in 2006 — on Jan 11.
Whereas it’s in Piedmont, there will likely be a tribute to Italian skier Matilde Lorenzi, who died final month on the age of 19 following a crash in coaching.
“There will likely be one thing to honor her I promise, additionally as a result of it was her dream to take part in these Olympics,” mentioned Italian Olympic Committee president Giovanni Malagò, who additionally leads the organizing committee for the Milan-Cortina Video games.
The torch will arrive in Verona on Jan. 18 and attain Cortina d’Ampezzo eight days later — on the seventieth anniversary of the opening ceremony of the 1956 Winter Olympics there.
The torch will conclude its journey in Milan, getting into the San Siro stadium on Feb. 6 for the opening ceremony.
Full particulars on how one can apply to be a torch bearer will likely be introduced in February.
“We’ll select the members specializing in their tales of braveness, of those that have had expertise of peace, inclusion and respect,” mentioned Milan-Cortina ceremonies director Maria Laura Iascone.
The Milan-Cortina Video games will run from Feb. 6-22, adopted by the Paralympics from March 6-15. The flame for the Paralympics will likely be lit within the British city of Stoke Mandeville and will likely be carried by 501 folks.
“Each step via our cities will develop into a second of celebration and reflection, reminding us of the ability of sport to construct bridges and break down boundaries,” Malagò, mentioned. “When the flames will journey via our streets, they’ll contact thousands and thousands with a novel and unforgettable heat: the type solely sport can convey.
“Igniting in folks’s hearts the sense of being a part of one thing larger, the Olympic torch relay and Paralympic torch relay will likely be distinctive alternatives for Italy to shine, as soon as once more, on the world stage.”
