The traditional lighting ceremony was held in the Panathenaic Stadium in Athens, Greece to light the Lausanne 2020 Youth Olympic Flame. With a team of representatives from the Olympic movement and the Lausanne 2020 Organising Committee, including Virginie Faivre – President Lausanne 2020, Jürg Stahl – President Swiss Olympic, Ian Logan – CEO Lausanne 2020, Pascal Bitschnau – Swiss Athlete in Snowboard Cross, Sydney Berta – Swiss Athlete in Ice Hockey and Danka Bartekova – IOC Coordination Commission Chair, this strong delegation were present for this momentous event which marks one of the most symbolic milestones in the lead up to the next Winter Youth Olympic Games.
The torch lighting ceremony preceding any Olympic torch relay is one of the most symbolic Olympic events. Today, it was Lausanne 2020’s turn to step into the spotlight as its Olympic flame was lit, marking the beginning of its journey from Athens, Greece to Lausanne, Switzerland. During today’s ceremony, a crowd of 1’400 kids from local schools as well as representatives from the Hellenic Olympic Committee watched on as the flame was lit using the rays of the sun, as was done for the ancient Olympic Games.
The Hellenic Olympic Committee President and IOC Member Spyros Capralos handed over the Flame to the President of the Organizing Committee of the Winter Youth Olympic Games «Lausanne 2020» Mrs Virginie Faivre. The ignited flame will now make its way back to Switzerland where it will start its Torch Tour journey and continuously keep burning until the Opening Ceremony of the Lausanne 2020 Games on January 9thwhen it will light the cauldron of the Games.
