FIS Newsflash articles 2012-2013

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Youth Olympic flame lights up for Innsbruck 2012

The flame for the first Winter Youth Olympic Games in Innsbruck, Austria, was lit in Athens last Friday, marking the first time in modern Olympic history the flame has been lit for three Olympic events taking place in the same city. In addition to hosting the Youth Olympic Games from 13th to 22nd January 2012, Innsbruck previously hosted Olympic Winter Games in 1964 and 1976.

Following Olympic tradition, the Youth Olympic flame was lit by the sun's rays reflected in a parabolic mirror, with a priestess from the Temple of Hera passing on the torch in Athens' ancient Panathinaiko Stadium to the first relay runner. Attending the ceremony, along with International Olympic Committee (IOC) President Jacques Rogge, were Austrian Sports Minister Norbert Darabos, Austrian Olympic Committee President Karl Stoss, Innsbruck 2012 CEO Peter Bayer and Chairman Richard Rubatscher, together with Chairman of the Innsbruck 2012 Coordination Commission and FIS President Gian Franco Kasper, among others.

The flame will now travel from Greece to Austria, where the Innsbruck 2012 Youth Olympic Torch Relay will make its way across the country from 27th December to 13th January 2012, the date of the Opening Ceremony in Innsbruck's iconic Bergisel Stadium. The stadium has already been fitted out with a special Youth Olympic Games cauldron for the flame, which sits next to the cauldrons from 1964 and 1976.

The flame will be carried by 2,012 torchbearers on its 18-day journey around Austria, passing through many of the country's most famous places, including a stop in the capital city, Vienna, in time for the New Year's Eve celebrations.

Click here to watch the ceremony of the lighting of the Youth Olympic Flame.

Contributed by the IOC

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