ZCZC
BSP-01
VIRUS-HEALTH-GREECE-OLY-2020
Olympic Flame lighting ceremony to be held under virus lockdown
OLYMPIA, Greece, March 11, 2020 (BSS/AFP) – Coronavirus fears and a local
outbreak of the deadly disease are forcing authorities to take unprecedented
measures at Thursday’s Olympic Flame lighting ceremony for the 2020 Tokyo
Games.
After dozens of people tested positive for COVID-19 in the broader western
Peloponnese, the Greek Olympic Committee on Monday said the ceremony would be
held without spectators.
Only 100 accredited guests from the International Olympic Committee and the
Tokyo 2020 Organising Committee compared to 700 originally will be allowed to
attend Thursday’s event in Olympia, where the ancient Games were held.
And a dress rehearsal scheduled for Wednesday will also be closed to the
public.
The committee had earlier cancelled all event dinners and galas.
In 1984, the Greek leg of the torch relay was scrapped in a protest by
Greek organisers against the commercialisation of the Los Angeles Olympics.
Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis has cancelled plans to visit but
the state will be represented by President Prokopis Pavlopoulos, a day before
his term ends.
Olympia mayor Yiorgos Georgiopoulos said the move has “disastrous”
consequences for local operators, though the government has pledged to help
cover financial losses.
“The tourism high point at ancient Olympia is during this period,” the
mayor told AFP. “Room cancellations are multiplying and (tourism sector)
professionals are desperate,” he said.
The Greek health ministry last week announced a “suspension of all mass
gatherings” at theatres, cinemas, museums and sports events in the
Peloponnese regions of Achaia and Elis and the island of Zakynthos through
Friday. The measures came after a 66-year-old man was hospitalised with the
virus at a hospital in Patras, western Greece.
He remains in critical condition. The patient was part of a group of Holy
Land pilgrims who travelled to Israel and Egypt last month.
Almost all developed the virus, as have several of their close contacts.
The flame for Tokyo 2020 is scheduled to be lit with a traditional ceremony
and following a torch relay in Greece will be handed to the Tokyo organisers
at another ceremony on March 19 at the Panathenaic Stadium in Athens.
In a statement, Tokyo 2020 said that it would “reduce the size of its
travelling delegation as much as possible”.
The torch relay in Greece will pass through 37 cities and 15 archaeological
sites covering 3,500 kilometres (2,175 miles) and 842 nautical miles (1,559.4
km) and will be carried by 600 runners.
Greek Olympic shooting champion Anna Korakaki will be the first torch
bearer, the first time a woman has been chosen to fulfil the role.
Korakaki has called the assignment an “immense honour” and says she hopes
to be “the first in a long line of women” to do likewise.
BSS/AFP/FI/ 0800 hrs