The Olympic flame for the 2026 Milan Cortina Olympics officially has begun its long and storied relay toward Milan’s San Siro Stadium, where it will light the cauldron at the Opening Ceremony on February 6, 2026.

In keeping with Olympic tradition, the flame was lit in Ancient Olympia on November 26. Following the traditional method of lighting the flame using the rays of the sun, the flame was lit ahead of the ceremony during a rehearsal due to wet weather conditions. The flame was transferred to the official 2026 Milan Cortina Olympic torch during the ceremony, where Olympic bronze medalist Petros Gkaidatzis served as the first torchbearer for the Olympic Torch Relay.

On December 3, the flame spent the night in the Acropolis under the watch of the guardians of the flame prior to its official handoff to Italian organizers. The Olympic flame completed the Greek leg of the relay the following day in Athens, where it was passed to the Italian leg of the journey inside the Panathenaic Stadium, the site of the first modern-era Olympic Games in 1896. The flame was passed from Greek Olympian Georgios Kougioumtsidis to Italian Olympic champions Jasmine Paolini and Filippo Ganna before Greek Olympian Eleni Xenaki used it to light the stadium's cauldron. The High Priestess lit the Olympic torch from the cauldron and Hellenic Olympic Committee President Isidoros Kouvelos presented it to 2026 Milan Cortina Organizing Committee President Giovanni Malago. 

The flame began its journey through Italy in Rome on December 6 with a ceremony held in Stadio dei Marmi. Giancarlo Peris, the final torchbearer for the 1960 Olympic Games in Rome, handed the Olympic flame to Malago to light the Cauldron of the Olympic Torch Relay. From there, 164 torchbearers made up of prominent Italian athletes and entertainers took the flame on a tour of Rome, passing iconic locations like Castel Sant’Angelo, the Pantheon and the Trevi Fountain.

Over the following week, the flame made its way through Umbria and Tuscany, making stops in San Gimignano, Perugia, and Florence. Currently, the flame is concluding its journey through Tuscany, ending the day in the Piazza della Repubblica in Livorno.

The Olympic Torch Relay is set to travel to over 300 municipalities across all 110 Italian provinces. On its 12,000km journey from Rome to Milan, the flame will make stops in 60 cities to celebrate the end of each day. Since setting off from Rome, the flame traveled through Umbria and Tuscany, stopping in cities like Florence for end-of-the-day celebrations. It is expected to travel to Sardinia, Sicily and Calabria before stopping in Naples for Christmas and Bari for New Year's Eve. 

To celebrate the Opening Ceremony of the Cortina d’Ampezzo Olympic Winter Games in 1956, the flame will arrive in Cortina d’Ampezzo 70 years to the date on January 26. From there, the relay will conclude in Milan in time for the Opening Ceremony in San Siro Stadium.

The origins of the Olympic flame stem from ancient Greek tradition where a sacred fire was kept burning on the altar of the sanctuary of Hestia for the duration of the ancient Olympic Games. The symbolic fire first was introduced during the 1928 Olympic Games in Amsterdam, where a fire was lit in the Marathon Tower of the Olympic Stadium to indicate where in Amsterdam the Games were being held. The Olympic Torch Relay was created during the 1936 Olympic Games in Berlin. On July 20, 1936, the first Olympic torch-lighting ceremony was hosted in Olympia, Greece before being passed on to Berlin by 3,331 runners over 12 days. The tradition has continued for each Olympic Games ever since. 

As of December 16, the Olympic flame is traveling to Agrigento after spending the previous day in the Sicilian capital Palermo. The city welcomed the flame with celebrations including musical shows and local performances in Piazza Politeama. American ambassador to Italy, Tilman ​Fertitta, 2006 FIFA World Cup champion for Italy, Filippo Inzaghi, and Sicilian motocross champion, Antonio Cairoli, were some of the few torchbearers of the night. The flame is in the midst of traveling around Sicily, having visited Castelvetrano, ​​Mazara del Vallo, Marsala and Trapani. The relay is expected to make stops in Cefalù, Enna, and Caltanissetta before arriving in Agrigento.