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RIO 2016 OLYMPIC TORCH RELAY UNDER WAY FOLLOWING FLAME LIGHTING CEREMONY IN OLYMPIAOPTIMISM AFTER FIRST BEIJING 2022 PROJECT REVIEWIn a visit that established a good foundation for future collaboration, an IOC delegation met with the Beijing 2022 Organising Committee on 17 March for the first project review of the Olympic Winter Games Beijing 2022. The day-long session confirmed that Beijing 2022 is off to a fast start, supported by a team with significant experience from the 2008 Olympic Summer Games.The Beijing 2022 team outlined their strategy to fulfil their legacy goal of developing ice sports throughout the city of Beijing and increasing winter sport participation among the 300 million residents of the region. The project review also focused on five other key areas in the initial stage of Games preparations: governance, sport, commercial partnerships, communications, and venues and infrastructure.The flame for the Olympic Games Rio 2016 was lit on 21 April in Ancient Olympia, Greece, during a ceremony organised by the Hellenic Olympic Committee (HOC). The lighting marked the start of the Olympic Torch Relay, which saw the flame travel for six days and 2,235km around Greece before being officially presented to the Rio 2016 organisers on 27 April at the Panathenaic Stadium, the site of the first modern Olympic Games in Athens in 1896. During the Greek leg of the relay, Ibrahim Al Hussein, a Syrian refugee athlete, carried the Olympic torch through the Eleonas Open Reception Centre in Athens. The 27-year-old, who arrived in Greece in 2014 having lost family members in war-torn Syria, received the flame from HOC President Spyros Capralos. This poignant chapter in the torch’s journey demonstrated solidarity with refugees around the world at a time when millions are fleeing war and persecution worldwide.Before departing for Brazil, the torch made a symbolic appearance in Switzerland. On 29 April, it was presented at the United Nations (UN) headquarters in Geneva, in a ceremony attended by IOC President Thomas Bach and UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon. During the ceremony, President Bach presented the Olympic Cup to the UN, an honour accepted by the UN Secretary-General. The IOC awards the Olympic Cup to associations or institutions that provide distinguished service to sport or contribute successfully to the promotion of the Olympic ideals. The flame was then delivered in a rowing boat to IOC headquarters in Lausanne, where it remained on display for the weekend at the Olympic Museum.From Switzerland, the torch was flown on to Brazil, and arrived in the capital Brasília on 3 May to begin its 95-day journey through every state in the largest country in South America. “In taking the Olympic flame right across the country, we will be fulfilling our promise to give millions of people the chance to take part in a celebration that we will never forget,” said Rio 2016 President Carlos Arthur Nuzman, who handed the first lit torch on Brazilian soil to women’s volleyball captain Fabiana Claudino.The Rio 2016 Olympic Torch Relay has three Presenting Partners – Worldwide TOP Partner Coca-Cola, which continues its longstanding support for Olympic torch relays, and local Partners Bradesco and Nissan.Above The Olympic flame arrived in Brasília on 3 MayAbove Beijing 2022 President Guo Jinlong (near)16 OLYMPIC REVIEW