Thursday, December 8, 2005
With the arrival of the torch to Rome, it begins the ritual of the 2006 Winter Olympics of Turin. The torch will travel across Italy transported by more than 10’000 carriers and it will arrive in Turin on February 9, 2006, where the Winter Olympics will be inaugurated, after 11’000 km (6,835 miles) of travel.
On November 27 the flame was burned on the altar of Hestia in Olympia, in Greece, and delivered to the first torch carrier, pole vaulter Kostas Fidippidis. The first Italian to carry the olympic flame is the marathoner Stefano Baldini, winner of gold medal at the Olympics in Athens. He received the torch from the President of the Italian Republic Carlo Azeglio Ciampi.