ROME (AP) — A preliminary cauldron was lit by the Olympic flame at Italy’s presidential palace on Friday as the countdown to the Milan Cortina Winter Games approached the two-months-to-go mark.

International Olympic Committee president Kirsty Coventry and Italy President Sergio Mattarella were in attendance for the ceremony.

Organizers specified the cauldron is not the official Olympic one that will be lit at the opening ceremony but a version dedicated to the torch relay.

The flame touched down in Italy on Thursday following a handover in Greece.

The next Olympics will be held Feb. 6-22 across a wide swath of northern Italy.

A 63-day torch relay throughout Italy starts on Saturday from Rome’s statue-lined Stadio dei Marmi.

Olympic swimming champion Gregorio Paltrinieri is sche

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