The Olympic flame for the Milano Cortina 2026 Olympic Winter Games was lit in Ancient Olympia, the historic birthplace of the Olympic Games. The ceremony marks the beginning of the flame’s journey towards Italy, where it will arrive on 4 December to travel across the country on its way to the Opening Ceremony on 6 February 2026.

The ceremony, held in Archaeological Museum of Olympia, was hosted by Isidoros Kouvelos, President of the Hellenic Olympic Committee, and attended by a number of distinguished guests. This included the President of the International Olympic Committee, Kirsty Coventry, and the President of the Hellenic Republic, Constantine An. Tassoulas.

Because of the wet weather forecast, the flame was lit using the rays of the sun during a rehearsal on Monday, ensuring that the purity of the traditional method was preserved. This flame was then transferred to the official Milano Cortina 2026 Olympic torch during the official ceremony, where Paris 2024 Olympic bronze medallist in rowing Petros Gkaidatzis marked the start of the Greek leg of the Olympic Torch Relay as the first torchbearer. Petros was then joined by the first Italian torchbearer, two-time Olympic champion Stefania Belmondo, to run together, before she in turn passed the flame to her compatriot and fellow double Olympic champion, Armin Zoeggeler.​

Among the other guests at the ceremony were IOC Honorary President Thomas Bach; IOC Member in Greece Spyros Capralos; the President of the Milano Cortina 2026 Organising Committee and IOC Member, Giovanni Malagò; the Chair of the IOC’s Milano Cortina 2026 Coordination Commission, IOC Member Kristin Kloster; the President of the Comitato Olimpico Nazionale Italiano (CONI), Luciano Buonfiglio; the Italian Minister of Sport and Youth, Andrea Abodi; and the Mayor of Olympia, Aristeidis Panagiotopoulos.