Stefanos Ntouskos

Stefanos Ntouskos secured a spot in the men's single sculls final of the Olympic Games, finishing third in the 2nd semi-final series.

The 27-year-old Greek Olympian covered the two kilometers of the race in 6 minutes, 40 seconds and 78 centimeters, behind the German gold medalist, Oliver Zeidler - who set an Olympic record - and the Belarusian silver medalist, Yauhen Zhalaty.

Ntouskos began his defense of the gold medal he won in Tokyo on a positive note, securing his quarterfinal spot without significant difficulty. He finished second in the first group of the preliminary rounds with a time of 7:01.55.

The Olympic Flame lighting ceremony ahead of the Paris Olympic Games will take place at the ancient site of Olympia on April 16 in a public event that will be televised live around the world, according to the program announced on Thursday.

Greek rower Stefanos Ntouskos has clinched Greece's first ever Olympic gold medal in the sport, breaking the Olympic record.

Ntouskos pulled a surprise victory in the men's single sculls with a time of 6min 40.45sec, breaking the previous record of Mahe Drysdale of New Zealand (6:40:45 in the 2016 Rio di Janeiro Olympics) and defeating two time world champion Kjetil Borch.