The Olympic flame for the Olympic Games Rio 2016 was lit on 21st April in Ancient Olympia, Greece, during a ceremony organised by the Hellenic Olympic Committee (HOC).

The lighting marks the symbolic start of the Olympic Torch Relay, which will see the flame travel for six days and 2,235km around Greece before being officially presented to the organisers of the Olympic Games Rio 2016 on 27 April at the Panathenaic Stadium, site of the first modern Olympic Games Athens 1896.

With 106 days to go until the Opening Ceremony of the Games, International Olympic Committee (IOC) President Thomas Bach took the opportunity to deliver a message of solidarity with the people of Brazil, which is currently experiencing political and economic difficulties. The IOC President also spoke of the power of the Olympic flame in promoting peace and spreading the Olympic values.

“These Olympic Games will be a message of hope in troubled times - and the flame will carry this message into all corners of Brazil and, indeed, all the world,” said President Bach. “In these difficult days that Brazil is facing, the flame is a timeless reminder that we are all part of the same humanity. The flame is an ancient symbol of peace and harmony, a symbol of the power of humanity to come together despite our differences. This will be the greatest legacy of the Olympic Games for Brazil and for the world.

He continued, “The torch relay will spread the message of our shared humanity to all people of the beautiful country of Brazil, a nation that is built on the idea that its strength comes from uniting all of its cultural richness. Brazil is unique in its diversity. Let the celebration of the XXXI Olympiad give reason to all the people of this vast and wonderful country to show the world the true meaning of unity in diversity.” Click here for the full speech.

One of the 450 people to carry the torch in Greece will be a Syrian refugee who has claimed asylum in the country. The as yet unnamed refugee will run through the Open Reception Centre for refugees in Athens, the same refugee centre President Bach visited in January.

Before departing for Brazil, the torch will visit Geneva and Lausanne, home of the IOC. The Brazilian leg of the Olympic Torch Relay will begin on 3 May in Brasilia. Click here for full details of the Olympic Torch Relay in Brazil.

Attending the lighting ceremony were President of the Hellenic Republic Prokopis Pavlopoulos; Brazilian Minister of Sport Ricardo Leyser; President of the Organising Committee for the Rio 2016 Olympic and Paralympic Games Carlos Nuzman, President of the HOC Spyros Capralos; IOC Vice-President and Chair of the IOC Coordination Commission for the Olympic Games Rio 2016 Nawal El Moutawakel and IOC Vice-President Zaiqing Yu.

After the lighting ceremony at the Temple of Hera in Olympia, the torch relay headed to Pyrgos where a cauldron was lit by the junior world record holder in the pole vault, Emmouil Karalis. The torch then moved on to Amaliada and the archaeological site of Ilida, which played an important part in the history of the ancient Games. Thousands of people welcomed the flame carrying Greek and Brazilian flags.

Lighting Ceremony: http://www.rio2016.com/en/news/greek-fire-lights-up-rio-2016-games-olympic-torch-lit-in-traditional-ceremony-at-olympia

The route of the Olympic torch: http://www.rio2016.com/en/news/rio-2016-olympic-torch-relay-takes-first-steps-of-greek-odyssey

IOC/World Sailing/RS:X Class

The pressure of competing for the remaining European places at the 2016 Rio Olympics produced tight and exciting races in the RS:X Classes at the Mallorca regatta Princesa Sofia IBEROSTAR in the Bay of Palma.

The last two countries to qualify to Olympic Games in the mens fleet were Croatia and Belarus with Hungary taking the honours in the women’s fleet. Thirty-six nations have now qualified for the mens RS:X fleet with the 26 places for the women’s also finalised.

Croatia’s Luka Mratovic (Mornar), totalling 21st pushed hard to get the national Rio ticket, and the Belarus claim was made by Mikita Tsirkun (RCOP) who finished 27th. Sarah Cholnoky (MSZA) secured Hungary’s Olympic place in the women’s RS:X fleet by finishing 35th.

Click here for the RS:X full qualification results - http://www.rsxclass.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/OG-2016-Qualifiers-RSX-April-16.pdf

The 47 Trofeo S.A.R. Princess Sofia regatta winners in RS:X Men’s fleet were Tom Squires (GBR) in front of Pawel Tarnowski (POL) and Byron Kokkalanis (GRE).

In Women fleet Olga Maslivets (RUS) won the Gold medal, when Flavia Tartaglini (ITA) took the Silver and Lilian De Geus (NED) Bronze medal.

Click here for the full results - http://www.trofeoprincesasofia.org/en/default/races/race-resultsall

The popular well organised Princesa Sofia IBEROSTAR (March 25th - April 2nd) once again attracted a large entry with 68 nations racing in 10 Olympic Classes plus the Para Olympic, 2.4m and Dragon Class boats.

In the mens RS:X fleet, France had the largest representation with 11 competitors among the 85 entries while France and Israel (8 entries each) toped the women fleet of 63.

The success of the prestigious Princesa Sofia IBEROSTAR regatta with its high level of commitment from competing sailors was a fitting reward for regatta director Ferran Muniesa and his organisers who had called for “that extra effort on the water” to mark the importance of the Olympic qualifier event.

The Rio de Janeiro Olympics begins with the world famous opening ceremony on 5th August with the RS:X Class racing starting on 8th August running until 15th August and all culminating in the official closing of the games on 21st August. The sailing will take place on 7 racing areas on the Guanabara Bay and Copacabana Beach in Rio and will feature 380 sailors competing across ten events.

The Notice of Race for the sailing states the key conditions for the ten events and includes details on the rules, regulations, entry and qualifications guidelines, format, scoring, schedule, venue and courses. All documents can be found here - http://www.sailing.org/olympics/rio2016/about/olympic_documents_rio_2016_about.php

Athletes, coaches, trainers and other team officials shall comply with the Olympic Charter, as well as with the World Sailing rules, in order to be eligible for participation in the Olympic Sailing competition, and shall be entered by a National Olympic Committee (NOC).

Click to view the NOR here - http://www.sailing.org/tools/documents/SAILINGNoticeofRace-[19974].pdf

To find out more and if you would like to view the World Sailing Olympic Website please click here - http://www.sailing.org/olympics/rio2016/index.php

Text: RS:X Class
Photos: Pedro Martinez