Olympic flame ceremony set for Tuesday
One of the great traditions of the Olympics will take place at 4:30 a.m. ET on Tuesday in Greece when the flame for the Paris Olympics will be created.
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To view the flame-creating ceremony for the 2020 Tokyo Games, watch the video below.
Before every Olympics, the flame is created during a ceremony at the main site of the ancient Games in Olympia, Greece, the birthplace of the Olympics.
A group of women create the flame by holding a torch to a mirror and using the suns rays to ignite fire.
The ceremony marks the start of the flame’s journey from Greece to its final destination in Paris for the opening ceremony on July 26.
The flame will spend more than two weeks being carried around in Greece before being handed over to Paris officials during a ceremony in Athens on April 26.
From there, the flame will be taken by ship to France, where it is scheduled to arrive in Marseille on May 8 to begin the torch relay around France.
Black hockey player makes history
Less than two years before the 2026 Winter Olympics in Italy, there was a groundbreaking piece of history during a game at the women’s hockey world championships in New York last week.
Forward Laila Edwards became the first Black player to score for Team USA in a 6-0 win over Czechia. A 20-year-old from Cleveland Heights, Ohio, who plays collegiately for the University of Wisconsin, Edwards actually scored two goals in the game.
Edwards, who was named the tournament MVP and best forward at the 2022 under-18 world championships, could play a significant role come 2026 with her size (6-foot-1) and scoring ability.
French, Russian tensions rise before Olympics
There already was some tension between officials from Russia and the International Olympic Committee since the IOC has banned Russia and Belarus from competing in the Paris Games under their respective flags and participating as individuals in the opening ceremony over the invasion of Ukraine.
But French President Emmanuel Macron stoked more flames to the fire when he suggested last week that Russia would target the Paris Games as retaliation.
Dmitry Peskov, a spokesperson for the Kremlin, denied Macron’s assertions.
Athletes from Russia and Belarus can compete in the Olympics, but only as neutral individuals and not part of teams. They can’t represent their flags or hear their anthems played should they win a gold medal. The athletes from Russia and Belarus also can’t participate in the opening ceremony along the Seine River, but can watch with spectators.