Olympic swimming star Gregorio Paltrinieri and other athletes from the Summer Games kicked off the torch relay for the upcoming Milan Cortina Winter Olympics over the weekend. The relay, commencing exactly two months prior to the opening ceremony on Feb. 6, saw Paltrinieri carrying the elegant torch at the Stadio dei Marmi in Rome. The journey spans 12,000 kilometers, passing through all 110 Italian provinces before culminating at the San Siro Stadium in Milan.
Paltrinieri expressed his delight in being part of the Winter Olympics torch relay, which will involve a total of 10,001 torchbearers. The relay encountered two groups of pro-Palestinian activists on its inaugural day, who were prevented from disrupting the route.
Giancarlo Peris, the final torchbearer from the 1960 Rome Olympics, ignited the Olympic flame to kick off the proceedings. Paltrinieri, a gold medalist in the 1,500 meters at the 2016 Rio Games, reminisced about his childhood skiing days and named skiing as his favorite Winter Olympic sport.
The torch was passed on to retired fencer Elisa Di Francisca and later to Gianmarco Tamberi, the reigning Olympic high jump champion. The relay, which includes 60 city celebrations, will make stops in various Italian cities, concluding at the opening ceremony venue in Cortina.
The torch relay will traverse Italy’s UNESCO World Heritage sites, serving as a promotional campaign for the upcoming Winter Games. The Games will be spread across northern Italy, with different events hosted in distinct locations. The torch relay’s upcoming destinations include Viterbo and Terni before continuing its journey.