e-mail: keithconning@aol.com.
I have been a fan, athlete, coach, official, prep editor, author, blogger, and photographer since 1953.
I have announced the NCAA West, the Pac-12, the Stanford Invitational, the Brutus Hamilton Invitational, the Mt. SAC Relays, the North Coast Section, the Sac-Joaquin Section, and the California State High School Meet.
I have attended five Olympic Games and four World Championships.
I am a U.S. Correspondent for Track and Field News.
The Olympic flame-lighting ceremony for the Olympic
Winter Games PyeongChang 2018 took place today in Ancient Olympia,
Greece. It marks the start of an incredible journey that will bring the
Olympic spirit to the Republic of Korea and its citizens, and inspire
the entire world.
The Olympic Torch Relay starts the final countdown to one of the
greatest athletic and cultural events in the world. Taking place as it
does against the backdrop of Olympia, the Olympic flame-lighting
ceremony serves more than any other tradition to connect the modern
Games with their ancient origins and – like the messengers who
proclaimed the sacred Olympic truce – the runners who carry the Olympic
flame will carry the message of the Olympic values on their journey.
As a symbol of the good that the Olympic Games can do to bring the
world together, the President of the International Olympic Committee
(IOC), Thomas Bach, alongside a number of National Olympic Committee
(NOC) leaders, took part in the ceremony to show their support for the
Games, which will begin on 9 February next year.
Representatives of the NOCs of the upcoming Olympic Games and Olympic
Winter Games included: Tsunekazu Takeda (JPN), Zaiqing Yu (CHN), Denis
Masseglia (FRA) and Lawrence F. Probst III (USA). They joined the
President of the PyeongChang 2018 Organising Committee (POCOG), Lee
Hee-beom and the President of the NOC of the Republic of Korea Kee-Heung
Lee, as well as Spyros Capralos from the Hellenic Olympic Committee
(GRE).
Getty Images
“As our founder, Pierre de Coubertin, once said: ‘The Olympic Games
are a pilgrimage to the past and an act of faith in the future,’”
President Bach told the crowd at the ceremony.
He continued: “What better expression of this faith in the future,
than the presence of the President of the Hellenic Olympic Committee,
together with the Presidents of the National Olympic Committees of the
Republic of Korea, Japan, China, France and the United States of
America. Together, they represent the future hosts of Olympic Games,
PyeongChang 2018, Tokyo 2020, Beijing 2022, Paris 2024 and Los Angeles
2028. Today’s ceremony marks the beginning of the celebration of the
Olympic Winter Games PyeongChang 2018.”
Today’s ceremony marks the beginning of the celebration of the Olympic Winter Games PyeongChang 2018Thomas Bach IOC President
The PyeongChang 2018 Olympic Torch Relay is an invitation to join in
the celebrations around the Olympic Winter Games PyeongChang 2018 and be
inspired by its message: “Passion. Connected.”
The IOC President was joined by the Chair of the PyeongChang 2018
Coordination Commission and IOC Executive Board Member Gunilla Lindberg
and a number of other IOC members.
“I am very proud to be here today in Ancient Olympia to see the
Olympic flame begin its journey to PyeongChang in the Republic of
Korea,” said Lee Hee-beom, President of POCOG.
He continued: “The start of the Olympic Torch Relay today is one of
the most important milestones in our journey to February 9th. The
Olympic Torch Relay will be a celebration of the passion that our nation
has for the Olympic Movement as we welcome the flame back to our shores
for the first time since the Seoul Olympic Games of 1988. Korea is
ready to welcome the world again in PyeongChang.”
Getty Images
Also present at the ceremony was Greek President Prokopis Pavlopoulos.
"Today's ceremony and the Olympic Games send a very important message
to the world, " he said. "Under the leadership of President Bach, the
Olympic Movement continues to play a unique role in the world."
Twenty-four-year-old cross-country skier Apostolos Angelis from
Greece, who has already secured his participation in PyeongChang 2018,
was the first torchbearer. He passed on the flame to famous football
player Park Ji-Sung from the Republic of Korea.
Over the following week, the flame will travel around Greece. It will
cover 2,129km on Greek territory and will arrive at the Acropolis on 30
October. Some 505 torchbearers will participate, and 36 welcome
ceremonies will be held in 20 municipalities over the eight days. The
ceremony to hand over the flame to the PyeongChang 2018 Organising
Committee will be held at the Panathenaic Stadium on 31 October.
Then the flame will make its way 8,500km east, to the Korean city of
Incheon, arriving on 1 November to coincide with 100 days to go until
the start of the Olympic Winter Games PyeongChang 2018.
Getty Images
Thereafter, the Olympic Torch Relay will see the flame embark on a
tour of the entire host country, taking in nine provinces and eight
major cities, before it finally arrives at the PyeongChang Olympic
Stadium in time for the Opening Ceremony on 9 February 2018.
The Olympic Winter Games PyeongChang 2018 will run from 9 to 25
February in PyeongChang, and will feature approximately 3,000 athletes
from 95 NOCs.
###
The International Olympic Committee is a not-for-profit
independent international organisation made up of volunteers, which is
committed to building a better world through sport. It redistributes
more than 90 per cent of its income to the wider sporting movement,
which means that every day the equivalent of 3.4 million US dollars goes
to help athletes and sports organisations at all levels around the
world.
###
For more information, please contact the IOC Media Relations Team:
Tel: +41 21 621 6000, email: pressoffice@olympic.org, or visit our web site at www.olympic.org. Broadcast quality footage The IOC Newsroom: http://iocnewsroom.com/ Videos YouTube: www.youtube.com/iocmedia Photos For an extensive selection of photos available shortly after each event, please follow us on Flickr.
To request archive photos and footage, please contact our Images team at: images@olympic.org. Social media For up-to-the-minute information on the IOC and regular updates, please follow us on Twitter, Facebook and YouTube.
No comments:
Post a Comment