Olympic Flame

The Olympic flame handover ceremony for the Tokyo Games will take place without spectators in an effort to contain the coronavirus outbreak, the Greek Olympic committee said Monday.

The Hellenic Olympic Committee (HOC) decided to suspend the remainder of the Olympic Torch relay through the country to avoid attracting crowds because of coronavirus, it said on Friday.

But HOC said the opening leg of the relay in the southern Peloponnese town of Sparta attracted an "unexpectedly large crowd," forcing it to suspend the remaining stops.

The Tokyo 2020 Olympics torch lighting ceremony in ancient Olympia will be the first in more 35 years to be held without spectators after organizers on Monday introduced tighter measures to protect against the coronavirus.

The Olympic torch handover ceremony in Greece on March 19 will be held without children due to the novel coronavirus, as will the arrival ceremony in Japan on March 20, Tokyo 2020 Olympics organizing committee president Yoshiro Mori said on Friday.

Next week's flame-lighting ceremony for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics will go ahead in Greece despite concerns about the virus outbreak.
The Greek Olympic committee says it is working closely with national health authorities and will hold meetings to re-evaluate the situation every two days.

Greek singer Sakis Rouvas wears the uniform of the torch relay runners as he holds the torch of the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games during a presentation of the torch relay within Greece, in Athens, Monday. The Olympic flame lighting ceremony will be held on Thursday, March 12, and will burn at the July 24 - Aug. 9 Tokyo 2020 Olympics. [AP]

Greek organizers of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic flame lighting ceremony in ancient Olympia next month said on Monday they have taken extra measures to avoid the coronavirus' spread during the torch's months-long relay.

Greek Olympic shooting champion Anna Korakaki will be the first-ever woman to be the first to carry the Olympic Flame, the Hellenic Olympic Committee (HOC) announced on Thursday.

Greek Olympic and world champion Anna Korakaki will run the first part of the relay following the torch-lighting ceremony for the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games and will also be the first woman to hold that honor. The 23-year-old shooter will receive the Olympic flame from the High Priestess in a ceremony to be held on March 12 at Ancient Olympia. [Reuters]

The Olympic Flame for the Tokyo 2020 Games will be lit on March 12 at Ancient Olympia, the organizing committee of the Tokyo Olympics announced on Monday.