Olympic flame travels from Athens to South Korea

The Olympic flame for the PyeongChang 2018 winter games was on Tuesday moved from the Panathinaiko Stadium, the venue of the first Olympic Games of the modernin Athens in 1896, and is scheduled to arrive the following day in Incheon, northwest South Korea.

The torch, which came from the Acropolis of Athens, was delivered to the organising committee of PyeongChang 2018 at the closing ceremony of the tour of the Olympic flame in Greece, reports Efe.

The event was attended by President of Greece, Prokopis Pavlopoulos, and chairman of the organising committee of PyeongChang 2018, Lee Hee-beom.

Despite tension between the host country and North Korea, Lee Hee-beom said peace and harmony would reign in the upcoming Winter Olympics.

Ski champion Ioannis Proios was the last champion who bore the torch to enter the Panathinaiko Stadium.

The passage of the torch through Athens forced the main streets of the city to close, which generated significant traffic jams both in the vicinity of the stadium and throughout the centre of the capital.

PyeongChang will host the second Winter Olympic Games in the history of South Korea, after Seoul in 1988, and the first in winter after submitting candidacy up to three times in a row.

The flame is due to arrive in Incheon on Wednesday.

--IANS

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