Greece is renowned for its historical civilization, mythical symbolism, popularity for immigration, and the Olympic Games. The Hellenic Olympic Committee recently announced that the country's world champion in gymnastics rings, Eleftherios Petrounias, will be the first torchbearer for the 2016 Rio Olympic Torch Relay.
The Olympic flame is usually lit a few months before the opening of the Olympic Games in front of the Temple of Hera in Olympia, Greece, the birthplace of the modern Olympic Games. The method of lighting the flame follows ancient Greek tradition: the High Priestess recites a prayer to the Sun God in front of the temple and then uses a parabolic mirror to focus sunlight to generate high temperatures to ignite the flame. This is the only way to collect the Olympic flame. After the flame is lit, the High Priestess uses the flame to light the torch of the first torchbearer, who then begins the journey to the host city of the Olympic Games.
The Rio Olympic flame will be lit in Greece on April 21. Eleftherios Petrounias, who will be participating in the Olympics for the first time, will run the first leg. He will be followed by Giba, the Rio Organizing Committee's volleyball competition director and former Brazilian volleyball star, who will also be the first Brazilian torchbearer for these Games.
It is reported that the Rio Olympic torch will be carried within Greece for 6 days, with 450 torchbearers covering a 2,235-kilometer route. The flame will arrive at the Panathenaic Stadium in Athens on the 27th, which was also the venue for the first modern Olympic Games in 1896. There, the Olympic flame will be officially handed over to the Rio Organizing Committee before heading to the International Olympic Committee headquarters in Lausanne, Switzerland.
On May 3, the flame will be transported by plane to the Brazilian capital, Brasília, to begin its relay within Brazil, passing through 329 cities and arriving in Rio on August 4. On August 5, the flame will enter the Maracanã Stadium, the venue for the opening ceremony, to light the main Rio Olympic cauldron. A total of 12,000 torchbearers will participate in the torch relay.
As the first Olympic Games to be held in South America, the Rio Olympics will take place from August 5 to 21.
