Rio 2016 Olympic flame lit in Olympia

April 23, 2016

A little over 100 days before the scheduled start of the, on Thursday the was ignited in a ceremony at the  in ,. Actress played the role of priestess accompanied by fourteen virgins, lighting the flame at  using sunlight focused by a parabolic mirror.

After lighting the "sacred fire" Lehu passed it to its first bearer, gymnast. According to , another torchbearer is to be a refugee, bearing it in the Eleonas refugee camp.

president said the lighting ceremony was writing history, and the Olympic Games would bring a message of hope in difficult times to Brazil and to the whole world. Over six days, the Olympic torch is to pass through more than 2000 of Greek territory, going through  and the. This part of the ride ends at the in, site of the.

Subsequently, the flame travels by plane to the in  where it is to stay for a week. Later, on May 2, it is to be moved to. The relay trip of the Olympic flame from Olympia to the Olympic site was introduced by in the.