Olympic flame arrives in Cortina d’Ampezzo

A week and a half before the start of the Winter Games in Italy, the Olympic flame arrived in Cortina d’Ampezzo, one of the two official host cities.

The flame reached Cortina, a community of 6,000 residents in the Italian Alps, exactly 70 years after the previous Winter Games were held there in 1956, CE Report quotes ATA.

This year, the honor goes again to the city, along with Milan.

The flame is expected to arrive in Milan on February 5, one day before the official start of this year’s Winter Games.

The Olympic flame was first lit in November at the ancient site of Olympia on the Peloponnese peninsula in Greece. It initially traveled through Greece and has been touring Italy since December.

Around 820 athletes participated in the 1956 Winter Games, the first ever held in Italy.

This time, more than 3,500 athletes will take part.

The Games will run until February 22. Competitions will not take place only in Milan and Cortina but will be spread across several locations in northern Italy.

The closing ceremony will be held in Verona.