Scaled-down ceremony: Tokyo 2020 flame lit in Olympia

By Magda Panoutsopoulou

ATHENS (AA) - The Olympic flame for the Tokyo 2020 games was ignited Thursday at the ancient Olympia -- the birth place of the ancient games -- in a scaled-down ceremony due to the coronavirus outbreak.

The flame was lit naturally by the rays of the sun in a ceremony by actress Xanthi Georgiou, in the role of high priestess.

She passed the relay to first woman torchbearer, Greek Olympic champion -- Anna Korakaki -- who then delivered the torch to the 2004 Olympic Games Marathon winner in Athens, Mizuki Noguchi.

European Commission Vice President Margaritis Schinas and European Commissioner Mariya Gabriel ran as the third and fourth torchbearers, respectively.

Greek President Prokopios Pavlopoulos and President International Olympic Committee (IOC) Thomas Bach, among other guests, joined the lighting ceremony.

“The ceremony demonstrates once more our commitment to the success of the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020," said Bach. "Nineteen weeks before the opening ceremony, we are strengthened in this commitment by the many authorities and sports organizations around the world, which are taking so many significant measures to contain the spread of the coronavirus."

The torch will be handed over to Tokyo 2020 organizers at an ancient stadium in Athens -- where the first modern Olympics were held in 1896 -- on March 19 after a seven-day journey in Greece.

The summer games are scheduled to start on July 24.

The virus that surfaced in China last December has spread to 117 countries, claiming more than 4,600 lives.

Yesterday, the World Health Organization (WHO) described the coronavirus outbreak as a pandemic.