Athens, 16 April 2024 (dpa/MIA) – The Olympic flame for this summer's Paris Games was lit on Tuesday in Ancient Olympia, Greece, where cloudy skies prevented the traditional lighting ceremony via the rays of the sun.

Instead, a back-up flame was used, lit the previous day during the dress rehearsal.

Greek actress Mary Mina, dressed as an ancient Greek priestess, lit the torch after offering a prayer to the ancient Greek sun god, Apollo.

The first two torch bearers were Greek 2021 rowing gold medallist Stefanos Douskos and former French swimmer Laure Manaudou who won gold, silver and bronze at the 2004 Athens Games.

International Olympic Committee president Thomas Bach named the lighting of the flame "the symbol of hope" to unite people at a time when wars and conflicts are on the rise.

"People are fed up with all the hate, the aggression, the negative news they are facing day in and day out," Bach said. "We are longing for something that will bring us together and give us hope. The Olympic Flame we are lighting today is our symbol of hope."

The flame will travel across Greece before a handover to France at Panatheniac Stadium in Athens on April 26, the main stadium for the first modern era Games in 1896.

It will be brought to France aboard the three-masted barque Belem which was built in 1896. It is due to arrive on May 8 in the southern French city of Marseille, founded around 600 BC by Greek colonists.

A torch relay in France and its overseas territories follows and culminates in the lighting of the Olympic cauldron at the July 26 opening ceremony of the Paris Games which run until August 11.

Photo: Paris 2024 Facebook page