President Sergio Mattarella on Friday lit the brazier from which the torch for next February's Winter Olympics in Milan-Cortina will be lit at a relay inauguration ceremony outside the presidential Quirinale Palace in Rome.
    Mattarella received the Olympic flame, which was flown from Athens to Rome Thursday, from the president of the Milano Cortina Foundation, Giovanni Malagò, as the Frecce Tricolori aerobatics team flew by overhead, and voiced the hope that an Olympic truce could be observed ahead of the February 6-26 event.
    "We hope that the Olympic truce will be renewed.

The sign of peace that the Olympics bring will be clear and visible everywhere," said the head of State, who also had a brief conversation with International Olympic Commiitee (IOC) President Kirsty Coventry, who also spoke with Premier Giorgia Meloni and other officials.
    "Italy has asked for the Olympic truce to be renewed.

We hope this is truly possible, and even more so, that the remaining months can bring about détente and dialogue, halt aggression and barbarism, and quell the desire for power that breeds fear, death, and devastation," said Mattarella.
    "Peace has been inscribed in the Olympic DNA since ancient times. In ancient Greece, when the games took place, the weapons stopped." "One of sport's greatest riches lies precisely in the achievements it brings to communities, which become a shared heritage." The Olympics, Mattarella said, represent "growth, and we always trust that growth is for everyone." Major sporting events increase the number of people who participate in sports. Now let's light the torch and bring these signs of hope and peace to the streets and cities." The Olympic torch landed at Fiumicino Airport Thursday afternoon, returning to Italy twenty years after the 2006 Turin Winter Games.
    It arrived in Rome aboard the ITA flight "Ciro Ferrara" from Athens, where the cauldron lighting ceremony took place that morning.
    Deboarding the flame were Olympic tennis star Jasmine Paolini and the president of the Milan Cortina Foundation, Malagò.
    Also on board were Luciano Buonfiglio, CONI's number one, and Carlo Mornati (CONI's general secretary), as well as the mayors of Milan and Cortina and the CEO of the Games Foundation, Andrea Varnier (coordinating ADR operations).
    Paolini said "It's incredible, I feel honored, it's a tremendous feeling, and I'm enjoying this day.
    "What message does the flame send? Commitment, passion, and peace. I hope it brings all of this to all of Italy," she added.
    The torch will now start its journey, first around Rome and then up to Milan by February 5, the eve of the Games.
    Long-distance swimming star Gregorio Paltrinieri will be Italy's first torchbearer. The 2016 Olympic 1,500m freestyle gold medallist and multiple long-course world champ will open the journey of the Milan-Cortina torch in Rome on Saturday.
    Among the other torchbearers are basketball player Achille Polonara, who is battling leukemia, fencer Elisa Di Francisca, and former Olympic high jump champ Gianmarco Tamberi.
    Others taking turns on the route through the capital will include former Wimbledon runner-up Matteo Berrettini, former basketball players Gigi Datome and Andrea Bargnani, ex motorcycling star Max Biaggi, film director Giuseppe Tornatore, rapper Achille Lauro, singer Noemi, actress Claudia Gerini, and fashion designer Lavinia Biagiotti.
   

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