ROME, Dec 5 (Reuters) – The Olympic flame flared into new life under a cloudy sky in the square of Italy’s presidential palace on Friday before starting its journey across the country ahead of the 2026 Winter Games.

A torch, ignited last month in ancient Olympia, the Greek birthplace of the ancient Games, was handed over in Athens to Italian organisers earlier this week.

That lit a lantern brought to the Quirinale Palace on Thursday evening and put on display in the Sala delle Vetrate, the palace’s ceremonial hall.

That in turn lit a torch which Italian President Sergio Mattarella used to ignite the flame in a ceremonial cauldron in Piazza del Quirinale during an event attended by Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and International Olympic Committee President Kirsty Coventry.

“The Olympics

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