Greece hands over Olympic flame to Tokyo 2020 organizers
- Posted By
10Pointer
- Categories
World Affairs
- Published
23rd Mar, 2020
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- Greece has handed over the Olympic flame to Tokyo 2020 organisers at an event which was 'significantly scaled-down' due to coronavirus pandemic.
- The ceremony, which took place at Athens' iconic Panathenaic stadium, did not include the planned cultural ceremonies from Greece or Japan.
- Hellenic Olympic Committee President Spyros Capralos handed the torch over to the Tokyo Organising Committee.
- Olympic gymnastics champion Lefteris Petrounias ran a lap with the flame and Olympic pole vault champion Katerina Stefanidi lit a cauldron inside the all-marble Panathenaic stadium, where the first modern Olympics were held in 1896.
- The flame was then handed to Tokyo 2020 representative Naoko Imoto, a swimmer who competed in the Atlanta 1996 Olympics.
- The Tokyo Olympic games are slated to be held from July 24 to August 9.
