Milano Cortina 2026 Olympic FlameLighting and Handover Ceremonies Information for the Media

22 October 2025 – On Wednesday 26 November 2025 at 11:00 CET, the Olympic flame for the Milano Cortina 2026 Olympic Winter Games will be lit in Ancient Olympia, Greece.

The Olympic flame will first be carried through Greece before arriving in Athens for the Handover Ceremony with a delegation from the Milano Cortina 2026 Organising Committee at the Panathenaic Stadium on Thursday 4 December 2025.

Following the Handover Ceremony, the flame will travel to Rome, marking the beginning of its journey across Italy, which will see the Olympic Torch Relay visit all 20 regions, 110 provinces and 300 municipalities ahead of the Opening Ceremony on 6 February 2026 in Milan.

Media accreditation for both the Flame-Lighting and Handover Ceremonies is being coordinated by the Hellenic Olympic Committee (HOC). Media representatives wishing to attend should contact press@hoc.gr.

The deadline for registration is 14 November 2025.

Olympic Channel Services (OCS) will produce live coverage of both the Flame-Lighting and Handover Ceremonies.

Live broadcast feeds (with English graphics and the Olympic rings in the top left corner) will be offered free of charge to all media and distributed globally.

Advance signal booking is required and must be made at least one week before transmission.

Further technical information including booking details is available in the Live Broadcast Feed Technical Details document.

All usage by non-media rights-holders and bona fide media organisations will be subject to the News Access Rules applicable to the Olympic Torch Relay of the Milano Cortina 2026 Olympic Winter Games.

The IOC will also provide video news releases via the IOC Newsroom platform, and photos from both ceremonies will be made available on IOC Media Flickr. Live streaming will also be available through the Olympics YouTube channel and on Olympics.com.

The Olympic Torch Relay, entitled “The Greatest Journey” by the Milano Cortina 2026 Organising Committee, will see 10,001 torchbearers carry the flame over a period of 63 days, travelling 12,000 kilometres throughout Italy. It will visit iconic landmarks and World Heritage sites – connecting communities and celebrating the Italian spirit in the build-up to the Games.

For more information on Olympic Torch Relays, click here.

For more information on the Milano Cortina 2026 Olympic Torch Relay specifically, click here.