ATHENS (AP) — The flame that will burn at the Paris Olympics has been formally handed over to French organizers at a ceremony in Greece. Friday’s ceremony was held in the all-marble Panathenaic stadium in Athens where the first modern Games were held in 1896.
The flame will depart for the southern French port city of Marseille on Saturday on a 19th century French sailing ship. It will make landfall 12 days later after a journey across the Mediterranean Sea.
The flame was kindled on April 16 at Olympia in southern Greece, where the ancient games were held for more than 1,000 years.
The Paris Games open on July 26.