MILANO (ITALPRESS) – Two extraordinary athletes, symbol of resilience, talent and Italian spirit, for one of the most significant moments of the journey to the Winter Games of Milan Cortina 2026. In fact, the legends of the blue sport Stefania Belmondo and Armin Zoeggeler will represent Italy and the Organizing Committee of Milan Cortina 2026 next November 26 in Olimpia, Greece, on the occasion of the ceremony of ignition of the Olympic flame. Thanks to the collaboration between Fondazione Milano Cortina 2026 and the Coni, the two blue icons will be among the first theodophorae of the Greek route, immediately after the first bracketer.
Their presence takes on a special value: Belmondo and Zoeggeler not only embody the excellence of winter sports, but also represent an ideal bridge between the last Italian Games, those of Turin 2006, and the Olympic Games of 2026, which after twenty years will return to Italy.
Their participation thus celebrates the roots, history and energy of Italian sport on the way to Milan Cortina 2026. “It is a great pride for Italy to see two of our most beloved sports legends, Stefania Belmondo and Armin Zoeggeler, protagonists of the ignition ceremony in Olimpia,” comments Giovanni Malagò, president of the Fondazione Milano Cortina 2026.
“Thanks to the collaboration with the cones and with Greek colleagues, we bring from the first step of the relay two blue symbols in this millennial ritual – adds – The Olympic flame embodies the values of friendship and unity among peoples and I am sure that will turn on the enthusiasm of all of us in view of the Games.”.
Stefania Belmondo (Arma dei Carabinieri) is one of the most titular Italian athletes in the history of the Games, with ten Olympic medals won in career, in which stand out the two ori won, ten years right away from each other, in Albertville 1992 and in Salt Lake City 2002. He was also Stefania Belmondo, last theorist of the 2006 Games, to light the brazier in the Olympic Stadium in Turin.
Armin Zoeggeler (Arma dei Carabinieri), a world-renowned sleigh legend known as “il Cannibale” and today the technical director of the Italian National Team, has in turn a unique palmarès: In fact, it is the first athlete in history to have won six individual medals in the same discipline in six consecutive editions of the Winter Olympics, from 1994 to 2014, with gold medals in Turin 2006 and Vancouver 2010 as the highest point of an unrepeatable career.
The ceremony of Olimpia will kick off a relay in the Hellenic territory of the duration of nine days, which will travel about 2,200 km touching seven regions of Greece, with 36 welcome ceremonies planned along the route. There are over 450 tedophorae that will take part in this first phase of the journey of the flame that on the Hellenic soil will end on 4 December in Athens, with the ceremony of delivery to the Panatenaic Stadium, where a delegation of the Organizing Committee of Milan Cortina 2026 will officially receive the torch and then take it to Italy the day itself.
The flame will arrive in Rome in the late afternoon of December 4th, from where, two days later, a unique and unforgettable journey will start: an extraordinary 63-day adventure, with 60 stages of celebration along 12,000 km through 110 provinces and over 300 municipalities crossed. A journey that will end on the evening of 6 February 2026 in Milan, with the opening ceremony at the Stadium of San Siro. In the sacred wood of the ancient Olympia, where the Olympic Games were born almost three millennia ago, the ceremony of ignition of the flame marks the symbolic beginning of each Olympic path in front of the Temple of Hera. Once on, the flame will then be entrusted to the first tedophorus, as usual a Greek athlete: in this case the alpine skier Alexandros “AJ” Ginnis. He will inaugurate the long journey that will lead the sacred Olympic fire to Italy.
-Photo IPA Agency-
(ITALPRESS).
