Olympic flame for Rio 2016 lit in Ancient Olympia

The Olympic flame for the Rio 2016 Olympic Games was lit in Ancient Olympia yesterday during a ceremony organised by the Hellenic Olympic Committee (HOC).

The ceremony was attended by IOC President Thomas Bach as well as President of the Hellenic Republic Prokopis Pavlopoulos; Brazilian Minister of Sport Ricardo Leyser; President of the Organising Committee for the Rio 2016 Olympic and Paralympic Games Carlos Nuzman, President of the HOC Spyros Capralos; IOC Vice-President and Chair of the IOC Coordination Commission for the Olympic Games Rio 2016 Nawal El Moutawakel; and IOC Vice-President Zaiqing Yu and marked the start of the Olympic Torch Relay. President Bach spoke during the ceremony of the unifying power of sport to inspire hope during difficult times and promote peace around the world.

With just over 100 days to go until the Games, NOCs are entering into their final preparations as they look to ensure that their athletes have everything they need to compete at their very best in Rio.