Bad Weather: 2026 Winter Olympics Flame Go Light Indoors

Di sacred flame for di 2026 Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics wey go hold for Italy, go light for ancient Olympia, Greece on Wednesday, but bad weather don force organisers to change di plan last minute. Normally, di ceremony dey happen for di ruins of di 2,600-year-old Temple of Hera near di stadium wey Olympics start for 776 BC, but rain forecast mean say di sun no go fit light di parabolic mirror wey actresses wey dey dress as ancient priestesses suppose use. Di organisers don shift di ceremony go di Olympia archaeological museum, wey get famous classical sculpture, Hermes and di Infant Dionysus by Praxiteles. Greece rowing bronze medallist for 2024 Paris Olympics, Petros Gaidatzis, na him go carry di torch first for di Greek leg of di relay after original pick, Greek-American alpine ski racer AJ Ginnis, suffer injury last week. Former Italian cross-country ski champion Stefania Belmondo and luge legend Armin Zoeggeler go also be among di first torchbearers for Greece.

After December 4 handover ceremony for Panathenaic Stadium for Athens, di flame go Rome for 63-day, 12,000-kilometre relay through Italy big cities and Pompeii archaeological site. Di 2026 Winter Games go hold February 6-22 for Italy, di third time, and di first time for western Europe since Turin Games 2006, while Paralympic Winter Games go hold March 6-15. Di events go spread from Milan go Dolomite mountains for north-east Italy, wit ice sports for Milan and alpine skiing for Bormio and Cortina. Biathlon go happen for Anterselva, Nordic skiing for Val di Fiemme, while Livigno go host snowboarding and freestyle skiing. Even though di outdoor venues dey high enough, organisers dey stockpile artificial snow, planning to make 2.4 million cubic metres wey go need 948,000 cubic metres water. Italy dey use di most artificial snow for Europe, with over 90% ski slopes dey use di system, as study from April by Italian environmental group Legambiente show. Di 2024 International Journal of Climatology report also show say snow cover for Italian Alps don reduce by half in di past 100 years.